Travel

Five Ways that Travel Makes You More Empathetic

CANDICE GAUKEL ANDREWS

MAY 25, 2021

The way I see it, travel encourages empathy to take root in the following ways:

• 1. Travel takes you out of your everyday comfort zone and allows new experiences to stream in

  • True understanding comes only through experience. Imagination is a powerful tool, but experience is essential. And travel is about having new experiences.

  • Travel forces us to escape the insulation of our comfort zones and to face new people and new situations in the real world, strengthening our ability to empathize with a broader range of people. When you agree to open yourself up to new experiences by making the decision to travel, you actively pursue understanding of the cultures and people in a new place.

• 2. Travel helps you see other points of view and feel them on a visceral level.

• 3. Travel makes you—and others—more authentic.

• 4. Travel helps you recognize that you’re in a good situation, building empathy toward others.

• 5. Travel facilitates altruism and philanthropy.