Travel opens the mind.
Travel exposes to new ideas.
Travel challenges assumptions.
Travel builds tolerance.
So they say.

But travel is a constant collision
of the mind to new ideas
against the assumptions of origin,
and tolerance is not a given.

Constant comparison constructs categories

It encourages the exploration of differences
and sometimes reinforces them.
After all, isn’t it easier to notice the ways we are different?

But it doesn’t have to be this way.
With a posture of curiosity
and a smile.
With mindfulness about our own attitudes
and inner dialogue.
With effort to remember there is no hierarchy to humanity.
That familiarity doesn’t mean superiority.
That normal is relative.
That difference is beautiful.