“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain
I have recently returned from a nine-day trip to Turkey. It’s been almost five years since I’ve traveled internationally, so I was excited that a trip that I thought would most likely not happen this year due to the COVID pandemic in fact did.
I was able to travel with my dad through Educational Opportunities, which is a company he has been a host with for a few years. The trip gave us the opportunity to be a part of a group that explored the country and learned about the history behind prominent places in the early Christian church.
As excited as I was to get to take part in this opportunity, I was somewhat dreading it as well. With three kids, two of which are in the throws of spring activities and one who is at the age where all you do is chase him, it makes leaving the country a logistical nightmare for my husband without help. In addition, having one work project that had gone haywire and two more that needed to be wrapped up, led me to be apprehensive about leaving for an extended period of time. I was exhausted preparing to be gone by the time I got on the plane to exit the country.
Nevertheless, travel is and most likely always will be an opportunity for me to grow and learn. I need to set aside time to do it. The trip reiterated for me the importance of building the muscles of openness to experience and what benefits it can bring to our people interactions, work performance, and leadership skills.
Psychology Today describes openness to experience in this way and articulates some of its benefits:
In the field of psychology, openness to experience refers to our measurable individual interest in art and beauty, our attention to our sensations and feelings, our intellectual curiosity, our preference for variety, and our active imagination. Put simply, it is the drive to explore novel aspects of human experience and the willingness to consider perspectives different than your own.
Openness is also an essential trait of successful innovators and creatives throughout history. With an appreciation of diverse perspectives and a willingness to try new things, you can better navigate daily challenges and discover novel solutions. Studies even show that openness to experience positively correlates with increased job performance and more creativity.
Openness to experience is also positively correlated to leadership.
Travel is one of the best ways to cultivate “novel aspects of human experience and the willingness to consider perspectives different than your own.” But you don’t have to travel halfway around the world to strengthen your openness to experience muscles. Here are four steps to thinking about travel as a way to grow your openness experience and thus your ability to innovate, think creatively, and lead:
1. Travel the place you call home. No matter how small the place you call home is, you most likely have not seen it all. There are streets I’ve never driven down in the town I live in. I drive the same routes seeing the same things every day, as most of us do. Take a day to go a different way to work, or school or the store, paying close attention to the novel surroundings. Pick a place that is close to home where you’ve never eaten, never shopped, or never explored and go there instead of where you always frequent. What new thoughts do these new places bring to mind?
2. Travel through a good book. Opening your mind may just mean opening a new book as often as you can. Choose books about places you’ve never been, people who are different than you are, and on topics, you’ve never explored. What can the book teach you about something you’ve never experienced and where does it prompt you to explore further?
3. Travel through new relationships. One of the most fulfilling things about our trip to Turkey was our local guide, “Art”. Art’s knowledge of Turkish history, as well as current events, was unbelievable. Raised in a conservative Muslim home where she often felt controlled and stifled, she was the first person in her family to receive a college education. She spoke openly about her opinions about politics, religion, and the history that has impacted the country she calls home. She referred to us all as “family” and was an open and active listener when it came to both the group’s questions and opinions that may or may not have mirrored her own. Despite so many differences in my experiences and hers, I found so many parallels as well, and I will continue to reflect on her impact.
