What Traveling Has Taught Me About Myself

Written By Avery Swanson

I have always loved the idea of leaving. Not in a running-away kind of way… okay, maybe sometimes. But being somewhere new—where no one knows you—has a way of revealing who you really are. It pulls you out of familiarity and lets you see yourself through a different lens.

I love traveling anywhere and everywhere because it feels like a different kind of freedom. Growing up, vacations weren’t something I experienced with my family. I used to wonder what it would feel like—to pack my own suitcase, to step on a plane for the first time, to eat out every day for a week. All those “firsts” lived in my imagination long before they became my reality.

And in those dreams, it was always with my family. I still catch myself imagining that version of it. But for now, it’s just me and my passport, figuring it out as I go.

I remember hearing questions like, “Where did you go for spring break?”
“I went to Florida.”
“I met Princess Belle.”
“I saw dolphins.”

Those conversations used to cut deeper than anyone realized. Assignments about “favorite family vacations” felt impossible. I would sit there, quietly shrinking, making up stories about trips I never took—just so I wouldn’t feel like the only one who didn’t have one.

I was jealous of a life I didn’t get to live, and embarrassed of the one I did.

So when life finally gave me the opportunity to travel, I took it. And that first trip? It changed everything. It opened my mind to possibilities I had only ever imagined. It made me realize that the world was bigger than what I grew up knowing—and so was I.

I’ve always enjoyed my own company… so why not take that version of me somewhere new?

Travel has taught me that:

  • Being alone doesn’t mean being lonely

  • Growth happens in discomfort and vulnerability

  • You can romanticize your own life

  • Independence and attachment can coexist

  • At the end of it all, we’re just human

Whether it’s solo trips, traveling with a partner, or going with a group—each experience has shown me a different version of myself. Every time I leave, I come back a little changed.

Like I’ve found another missing piece of who I am.
A little more self-aware.
A little more me.
A little more alive.

And maybe… that’s the whole point.


Avery Swanson