Can Travel Make You A Better Person?

The great philosopher, Bradley Gearhart, once said “Flying makes you a better person. From the eagle’s point of view, you understand the vastness of our world and get out of your own head.”  My son was 14 when he said these words after a flight to Denver to visit his grandfather.  He’s on to something.  But what does the vastness of the world have to do with being in your head.  And why is it so bad to be in your head?  Or is it the connection of the flight with the vacation, a week away from home, away from a normal mundane routine, that really gets the blood flowing and the room for the mind to expand? 

On a recent trip to Orlando for a conference, I saw a family wearing matching Disney T’s zig zagging through the airport.  Ok, no, I saw a handful, a dozen, no, several dozen families trotting around in their Disney T’s with full on excitement in their eyes.  Airports are my favorite place to participate in the sport of people watching.  A couple with six kids was happily frantic as they navigated onto the tram barely squeezing the crew through the closing glass doors.  As the tram pulled away from terminal A, I grabbed the cold metal pole in front of me.  How many people have touched this and when was it last sanitized?  As I moved my palm off the pole and hung on just with fingertips, I saw the family’s shirts read “Wishes from Indiana”.  One of their children is sick, but I couldn’t tell.  From their confusion navigating through the airport and the excitement of a tram ride, I could tell they don’t get out much.  They smiled for pictures on the tram like it was the teacup ride in the park.  I smiled at the little boy staring up at me as I shared in their anticipation.  I remember my first trip to Orlando, and I was in awe too. 

As an adult and a person who is not a big Disney movie buff, my expectations were low.  Sure, I looked forward to making memories with the kids, but didn’t expect to feel “the magic”.  I must admit, I was enthralled by Disney!  Even as a non-Disney lover, the bug crawling under my butt at A Bugs Life and the impressive choreography and the seamless blend of actors, dancers, and float riders in the daily parade was truly magical.  This parade is performed every single day.  People, regular people, drive to some hidden employee parking lot, spend an hour perfecting their lion face makeup and pulling on their costume, practicing their dance moves, and then venture out behind the curtain to greet the world with a smile.  The vast difference from their job and mine, an accountant who sits behind a computer all day, is striking.  That’s what Disney is…striking. 

However, it isn’t just Disney.  Disney is maybe where we first experience it.  Then we go to Las Vegas, Time Square, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls.  Each experience opens a box in the brain…whole cities can light up and cater to millions of tourists…the ground can wash away a little at a time and make a hole 1900 miles of expanse…a river is there one minute and then it is gone, crashing 167 feet to the floor below. 

Bradley and his flight induced thought was onto something.  When we see the vast, different, and striking world, we feel different.  For anyone who tried meditation apps will remember the visualization exercise.  The voice calmly guides us to close our eyes, imagine ourselves in our house.  Then zoom up like you are looking down at yourself in your house.  Zoom up more.  See every house on your street from above.  Zoom out more.  See your city, the neighboring city, the landscape around your area, the country, the earth, the world.  This practice of mentally stepping back from your thoughts and emotions to gain a wider perspective allows you to observe your experiences with less reactivity and more clarity.  It helps you see the bigger picture and respond with greater calmness and awareness. 

So, no.  I don’t think it is only the hype of a vacation, a get-a-way, that provokes good feelings.  It is perspective.  While visiting other places, I imagine the life of the hustle and bustle in a lit-up city or a Native American who rides on his horse up to the edge of the Grand Canyon in disbelief.  I am thankful I can visit, witness the experience, and appreciate it. 

When a vacation ends, you can witness the sadness on all the departing faces in the Orlando airport, and I have once observed the thousands of people exiting a cruise ship in near silent misery.  However, when we walk in that door pulling the luggage behind us, our dog greets us with excitement, our bed awaits.  The vacation ending woes wash away, and we are happy to be home.

Without knowing it, that little trip will be with us for a while and has opened up our mind for greater perspective, calmness, and awareness.