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What Can Travel Teach You That Life at Home Can’t?
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Jul 17, 2025
Food in a language you don’t speak, figuring out how to read a bus schedule, or staring out at a view so beautiful it silences your mind—travel shapes us in unexpected ways. It’s more than sightseeing; it’s about self-discovery and personal transformation. In this episode of Dusty Roads, Anita reflects on how years of travel and living abroad have changed her from the inside out. You can listen in—and if you're curious to read more, click here (https://abusonadustyroad.com/why-is-travel-important-for-personal-growth/) to explore the full blog on Why Is Travel Important for Personal Growth? #DustyRoadsPodcast #TravelForGrowth #WhyTravelMatters #PersonalGrowthThroughTravel #GlobalPerspective #LifeLessonsOnTheRoad #TravelChangesYou #MeaningfulTravel Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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[Music]
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Hi, this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
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podcast. Today I want to talk a little
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bit about why is travel important and in
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particular why is travel important for
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personal growth or why do I believe
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travel is important for personal growth.
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You know, things like, you know, food
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and a language you don't speak, figuring
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out how to read a bus schedule, or
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staring out a view so beautiful. It
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silences your mind. You know, travel
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isn't just about ticking places off a
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bucket list. I'm surprised that, you
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know, today's world of social media and
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all of this, you see so many people that
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they just travel just to get that
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picture of them traveling and then they
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say, "Wow, you know, I've been here."
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And they don't really immerse themselves
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in the culture. I'm kind of a little bit
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of a different traveler. I'm the kind of
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person that, you know, would go to
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China, visit a temple, and I could sit
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at the temple there for an hour or two,
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talking to people, immersing myself in
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the culture of the temple, and just
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watching everything, observing things,
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and just enjoying life as it goes on.
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That's kind of me as a traveler. I don't
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necessarily have to see all the tourist
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spots, so it's great to see. But what I
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really like to see is the local culture,
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local people, and the local life.
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So, I want to talk a little bit about 10
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ways that travel can change you. And,
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you know, having traveled a lot, you
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know, in my life and been to many
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places, you know, travel is not the
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same, of course, for everyone. There's
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those people that travel and they have a
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schedule. They need to see every single
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thing. And there's those people that are
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more like me who are maybe a little bit
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like they want to immerse themselves in
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the culture. They want to see the local
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life. They want to see local things.
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There is no right or wrong. Whatever
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fits for you is the right thing. But
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here are some reasons why how travel can
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change you or you know how travel
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changes me, how travel can change
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anyone. First of all, number one, it
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shakes you out of your routine. You
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know, most people live their lives in
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autopilot. You wake up,
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you commute, you work, you sleep, you
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repeat. Travel can break that up, that
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loop. Suddenly your senses are awake
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again and you're noticing, question,
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adjusting. It rewires how you look at
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every day.
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Travel teaches you patience.
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This is true. You know, if you're
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suddenly and your plane's delayed or
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something else happens and you're
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traveling and a road floods and you
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can't get through the flood, you know,
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or you don't quite understand what's
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going on. Travel can really teach you,
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you know, you know, patience, you know,
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whatever it is that happens can teach
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you that you can learn from it. Travel
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throws you curveballs in life
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constantly, you know. So, you can either
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fight them or you can just kind of go
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back and say, "Hey, we're going to kind
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of live with this." Travel can build
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your confidence. There's nothing like
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navigating a foreign country, figuring
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out things on your own and realizing, "I
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can handle this. I can do this. I can
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make it through this." Travel confronts
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your fears. You know, sometimes travel
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makes you face things you don't know you
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feared, like getting lost. being alone,
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being vulnerable. I remember when I
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backpacked China on my own, one of my
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greatest fears was being alone. And then
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as I started traveling and meeting
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people along the way, meeting new
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friends, some of them who I I'm still
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friends with today after all these many,
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many years ago, it really changes you.
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It builds your confidence. You get to
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know new people. When you're traveling
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with somebody and you're just there with
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them in a group, it's sometimes it's
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really hard to get to know other people
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unless you really go out of your way and
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start talking to people, you really
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don't get to know other people except
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for those people you're traveling with.
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So, you know, travel can build your
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confidence, especially if you decide to
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travel alone. It can confront your
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fears. Builds your confidence. It
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confronts your fears too at the same
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time. Travel deepens empathy. You know,
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when you spend time in someone else's
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country, you begin to understand life
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from their side. You encounter different
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values, struggles, and joys. It broadens
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your heart. Travel humbles you. I know
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travel's really humbled me. You're not
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the center of the world. Travel reminds
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you that you see how big the world is,
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how vast the world is, how people live
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very differently. It helps you to
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understand them where maybe before you
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didn't understand them at all. That kind
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of humility can be very healthy in life.
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It can clarify for you what matters,
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what matters most, what is most
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important for you in life. When you're
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out of your environment, you seeing what
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you miss and what you don't. Travel can
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help you filter out the noise. Maybe you
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discover that, hey, you know what? I
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don't need all these things in my life.
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I can live with what's just in my
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backpack. I can live off of that. I
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don't need to have a closet full of
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clothes. Travel can change in that way.
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It can clarify for you. This is what
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really matters is importance. It can
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awaken your curiosity. It can spark
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questions. You know, what's that dish
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called? Why do you eat this? You know,
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why do you do things this way? It can
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help you to be able to learn new things.
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And the world we're living in today, we
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need to constantly be learning. It can
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inspire creativity, new places, new
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colors, new ideas. Travel can stir up
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the brain. You know, writers can write
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more. artist sketch. Entrepreneurs think
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differently. You know, you you come back
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with a creativity recharged. You come
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back changed.
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One of the great things about travel is
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that travel can connect you to humanity.
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You learn that people are more alike
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than different. And this is something
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that I really love about travel is that,
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you know, when you go to other countries
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that you're going to a new culture, you
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begin to realize that this person may
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not look like me. They may not even
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speak my language, but we still have
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something in common. We have our
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humanity in common. You know, whether
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you're sharing a meal in Morocco or
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getting directions in Japan or whether
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you're, you know, in a um a gear or in
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Mongolia,
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you know, you learn there's a shared
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language of kindness and connection that
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overrides culture. That, you know,
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kindness and humanity are the things
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that overrides any type of culture at
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all. But the truth is, you know, and
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this is this is really true, is that,
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you know, travel is not always easy. It
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can be frustrating. It isn't all about
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sunsets and gelato. You know, sometimes,
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you know, it's miss buses. It could be
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food poisoning, language struggles,
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Wi-Fi dead zones. All these things can
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happen while you travel. But it's also
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through the bad things that you can
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learn stuff, too. You find out what
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you're made of when plans fall apart. Do
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you throw a fit? Are you angry? Are you
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upset? Or do you kind of go with the
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flow and you just show, hey, I can
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adapt. I'm gonna I'll do something else
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this day or I'll learn to adapt in some
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way if things didn't go as planned.
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That's why I feel like travel is worth
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it every single time because there's so
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much you gain from travel, so much you
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learn from travel. You know, go
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somewhere even if it confuses you. Go
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somewhere that calms you. Go somewhere
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that makes you rethink what normal looks
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like. Go somewhere which helps you be
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able to understand and see the world
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from a different point of view. You
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know, even short trips can help impact
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your personal growth. It doesn't have to
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be long trips. It can be absolutely be
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shorter trips. But, you know, find a way
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to get out of your comfort zone and to
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see this beautiful and wonderful world
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that we live in and to explore this
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world that we live in. That's what it's
7:48
all about with our Dusty Roads podcast
7:50
and a bus on a dusty road. That's why we
7:53
believe in living your life as a global
7:55
citizen. That's what it means to live
7:57
your life as a global citizen. to just
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be aware of the world, think about the
8:01
world, have compassion for other people
8:03
in the world, and understand that
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there's a world out there that is
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different than the world that you may
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see within your own little community. So
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get out there, explore it, and see that
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world. And if you can't get out and
8:15
explore it and see the world, then come
8:16
and join with us and see it together
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with us because together we can see and
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explore these things and begin to
8:22
understand things about the world that
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we did not understand before. That's
8:27
what this is all about. Thank you so
8:30
much for being part of this community.
8:32
We appreciate you. And if you aren't
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Subscribe and join with us. We'd love to
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8:40
all so much for listening and for being
8:42
here.
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[Music]