For the love of travel

The last two years have been difficult for many reasons. Not only have we experienced a health scare previously unknown in our lifetimes, we have gone through economic and social tumult from the COVID pandemic.

For me, one of the things I've missed most has been the inability to travel.

My earliest memories of travel are accompanying my father on business trips to the far north of Queensland. We travelled to Kingaroy, Townsville, Cairns, Rockhampton and other northerly places, and the sense of togetherness and freedom that those trips created in me, I still feel when I travel today, nearly 50 years later.

Some many see travel as an opportunity to see beautiful sights, and it surely is that, but in my experience, that is just the beginning of the story.

How to win friends and introduce people

Not only can travel conjure up emotions, but it is also a highly sociable activity.

In my experience, people are open to new experiences, new conversations, and new connections far more frequently than they would be in their home environments.

Of course, the common interests of adventure and travel is something that makes these connections easier as building a relationship from common ground often does.

But making friends is only one of the other benefits of travel.

How travel helps you learn

When I go to a new place, I love to immerse myself in all aspects of what the place offers.

For example, learning a few new words of a language is often fun and adds to your understanding of your own. I didn’t know how much English had borrowed from French until visiting Paris (still one of my favourite cities), made me learn a little.

I also find many gustatory delights that are rare at home. If you have ever tasted the delicious Turkish ice cream, Dondurma, or found that Sake has as much variety in taste as grape based wines, you’ll know exactly what I mean. 

It's also fantastic to immerse yourself in the history of another place. For example, when I traveled to Cambodia a few years ago, I was unfamiliar with the rich and varied history of the Indochina region, particularly of the Khmer people who occupied historic Cambodia (as well as the tragic more recent one of the Khmer Rouge). This really opened my eyes to a history that is not often taught in Australian schoolbooks.

Of course, culture in various locations can differ widely too. Learning new manners, new ways of existing is fantastic from a point of view of broadening your own perspective on culture and being more accepting of those who come from a different one.

Reading books that resound with a location you are travelling to is another great learning prospect. For example, before visiting South Africa I'd never considered reading the life story of Nelson Mandela, which is in the book The Long Walk to Freedom. A fantastic book and made so much of the richer for having visited the country he changed and in particular, Robben Island, where he was imprisoned for many years and built his plan for that change.

What next – waiting for travel to resume

With all these things in mind, I can't wait for travel to resume.

I've got my bucket list of travel destinations, which I look forward to fulfilling when we can all travel internationally and domestically once again.

A few places on that list:

• Iceland – the land of fire and ice
• Namibia – famous for its forbidding Skeleton Coast and razor-edged sand dunes
• Botswana – a microcosm of story book Africa
• Mongolia – one of the last great wildernesses
• Romania – evocative Transylvanian forests and mountains, and awesome motorcycle roads!

I’m sure many will have missed travel – what do you miss most and where do you want to go next!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Richard Stewart OAM is a Corporate Value Advisory partner with PwC. He has been with them for 35 years in Australia, Europe and the USA, doing his first valuation in 1992. He has helped his clients achieve great outcomes using his value skills in the context of major decisions, M&A, disputes and regulatory matters. His clients span both the globe and the industry spectrum. He holds a BEc, MBA, FCA, FCPA, SFFin, FAICD and is an accredited Business Valuation Specialist with CAANZ. He has written two books, Strategic Value, and Hitting Pay Dirt, and is an Adjunct Professor at UTS. The opinions in this article are his own and not necessarily PwC's. Travel is one of his greatest passions.