What I Learned This Year: Traveling Is Always “The Same”

How the concept of traveling is always the same for me.

The concept of traveling is always the same. There are pre-departure preparations, or oftentimes a lack thereof. Everything is planned, except things go astray more often than not. There is just one destination per trip, where one can mean many. And lastly, the traveler doesn’t grow much, at least not physically. Mental growth, on the other hand, is a different story.

Traveling this year has taught me these things. When I spent the summer abroad in Beijing, I planned to meet people from different backgrounds and improve my Chinese language ability. I didn’t expect to pick up a different accent, or to shift my job plans towards the country, or to develop a genuine interest in China’s history and culture.

When I visited Taiwan at the end of summer, I knew I was going to eat amazing cuisine and shop for stylish clothing. However, I didn’t anticipate exercising outdoors amidst a typhoon, befriending and maintaining contact with a department store cashier, or visiting the beaches of the island. I didn’t expect to sample and enjoy all the seafood I had loathed in the past years.

When I went to Catalina Island in the beginning of fall, I thought I wouldn’t see anything I didn’t already know about; there are sights to see, trails to walk, and beautiful waters to engage in sporting activities. However, I didn’t expect to see the emerging grey whale thirty yards from our sailboat, to snorkel in an empty part of the island with sea lions swimming nearby, and to be in charge of a seven-person crew.

See, the concept of traveling is always the same for me. Being the “know-it-all”, I enter with strong convictions of what to expect. I then leave the experience with, as another Jetset Times contributor Jocelyn eloquently wrote, “Shattered expectations and assumptions.” As I reflect on the end of another year, I’ve learned so much about myself, and the world around me, as a result of traveling. For that reason, I can’t wait to depart on the next adventure – wherever that may be.

Andy Cheng

He was born and raised in Orange County, southern California. He graduated from UC Berkeley, studying political science with a concentration in international relations. In his free time, Andy frequents exercising, spectating eSports, meeting new people, and learning new things.