Travel with Vance

I’ve been home a few days now and I am beginning to notice small changes where travel has made an influence on me.

I was walking down the street and passed by a homeless man sitting on the side of the curb. Without thinking I made eye contact, smiled and said hello as I passed by. The homeless man lit up with a big smile and replied with a big hello back! At first I thought that it was odd how excited he got when I said hello, but then I realized that people don’t normally smile and say hello to him! As I kept walking to my destination I thought back to how I would have reacted walking by a homeless man before my trip overseas. I realized that I would have never said hello to him before my trip. In fact I would probably have walked right by ignoring him like most people probably do.

Before my trip, people that have traveled told me that you come back a different person. This was the first thing that made me realize their statement was true!

During my travels I made an effort to smile or say hello to everyone I came across. When you’re in a different country traveling alone, a smile or hello goes a long way. I can’t count how may times a simple smile or hello started an awesome conversation with a complete stranger. I made a lot of friends with locals by simply being friendly.

I urge everyone reading this to make an effort to smile or say hello to a stranger walking down the street. You never know how much it might brighten someones day and you’ll be surprised how far it gets you!