Are you a curious traveler?
Let's discuss the difference between being a curious traveler and someone interested in traveling.
Hi there,
Happy Saturday! We are officially back from Spain and easing into our routine at home while maintaining that curiosity from traveling that sometimes disappears when you get home. It’s so easy to get back to old habits - the phone obsession, email checking at all times of the day, sitting for hours, etc. But I committed to maintaining that wonder every. single. day. This promise to myself got me thinking…about the curious traveler and encouraged me to dig deeper into what that means.
A few days ago, I grabbed the book Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown (Huge fan…are you?), and she defined curiosity as this:
Curiosity is recognizing a gap in our knowledge about something that interests us and becoming emotionally and cognitively invested in closing that gap through exploration and learning. Curiosity often starts with interest, ranging from mild curiosity to passionate investigation.
This got me thinking about how we practice curiosity while we travel and beyond. Booking the trip, planning it, and arriving is just the beginning - but how far are you taking that experience….are you reading and learning about a new culture, asking questions, digging deep to a destination? The term “curious soul” and “curiosity” gets thrown around a lot lately…it’s become a trend to say, “I’m a curious person”. But a curious person has invested time, emotion, and heart to acquire more knowledge about a specific topic, while interest is mainly just being open to engaging in an experience. Brene Brown mentions in her book that curiosity doesn’t exist without the interest, but we can be interested and not have our interest grow to curiosity. So, as a traveler, where do you find yourself at the moment…curious or just interested?
Here are a few tips to guide you as you travel or looking to be more curious right from home:
Choose uncertainty. Stay calm in your travel planning. Leave room for a bit of uncertainty and a little magic. Maybe that means leaving one day unplanned and seeing where the day takes you. If you're home, perhaps this means exploring a new neighborhood…either way, choosing uncertainty means being vulnerable, staying open, and allowing yourself to be guided by the present moment.
Be a lifelong learner. Instagram and all the apps at our disposal have driven us to get "fast information" at our fingertips and have made us lazy...causing us to choose places to travel, eat or explore on a whim with little to no information, just a pretty picture to spark our interest! While you wait for your trip, this is the perfect time to learn. Order the cookbook, watch the documentary (If you're going to Mexico, watch Searching for Mexico with Eva Longoria - it's SO good!), reach out to locals for more insight, learn the language, etc. Sometimes we book trips and arrive at a destination and can't even point it out on a map! Einstein said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its reason for existence". It’s that childlike wonder that keeps us creative and growing.
Connect with people. Practicing curiosity doesn't have to be a one-person mission. Make plans with your partner or friends that will help keep you accountable. Take a language course together, or grab your best friend for a food tour in your neighborhood or a new city! If you are serious about investing time into a new hobby or learning more about a place, it’s important that the people in your life are aware.
This is all for now….I will undoubtedly be writing more about this topic because I’m very passionate and believe that being a curious traveler correlates to many more parts of our lives. Leave me a message below or DM on Instagram and let me know how you are pushing yourself from being “interested” to becoming more “curious”. I’m rooting for you!
Recuerdos is having a Summer sale! The entire shop is now 20% off - click here to shop pantry favorites, travel reads, and gifts. This Summer sale allows me to make room for newness that I can’t wait to share with you all. For now, take advantage of these new prices - happy shopping!