Obstacle course racing is what first launched me into airports and rental cars. I was signing up for weekend races that required trekking across states or hopping time zones. And by doing that, I found myself connecting through travel and growing as a person.
I’d train hard, book cheap flights, and sleep three to a room with nearly strangers (some of whom became some of my greatest friends). Then I’d race through mud holes and over fire pits with people who barely knew my name, but knew how to root for and encourage me like we’d been teammates for life.
What started as competition became communion. Somewhere between finish lines and shared hotel snacks, I realized these travel weekends were about a lot more than racing. They were about connection, identity, and freedom. And they planted the seed for a deeper journey I didn’t know I was on.
Travel as Identity Work
As a social psychologist, I’ve spent years studying how humans form identity, how we bond, and how context shapes our behavior. But it took getting out of the classroom and into the world to really feel those lessons.
When I travel, I notice I’m not just visiting places. I’m trying on new versions of myself. I’m the version who climbs mountains in the Tetons, who risks anaphalctic shock by ordering off a menu in New Orleans, who finds joy in solo hikes and small talk with strangers from England. Each trip helps me learn a little more about who I am and what I value.
And maybe that’s what identity really is, just us, collecting moments that help us figure out what feels most true.
Straying Off The Path: Post-PhD Drift
After finishing my PhD in social psychology, I found myself in a strange place. I had spent nearly a decade pursuing a path I was no longer sure I wanted to walk. The academic world I’d once found intriguing felt too narrow now. My passions had shifted, expanded, exploded. Suddenly, I found myself adrift, wondering how I could even utilize this degree I had put so much time and money into.
But in that space of uncertainty, I had a realization: the whole reason I got into social psychology in the first place was because I am obsessed with understanding people. With observing, interacting, and connecting. I didn’t need to be in a lab or publish papers to keep doing that. Travel, it turned out, made for quite the classroom.
Why Social Psychology and Travel Are Inseparable
Travel is, at its core, a social act. It places us in new contexts, triggers new behaviors, and forces us to navigate unfamiliar norms and environments. In social psych terms:
- It breaks in-group vs. out-group thinking.
- It heightens self-awareness through perspective shifts.
- It activates our need for belonging and competence.
- It stretches our identity through role experimentation.
Whether it’s bonding with your Lyft driver in Chicago, getting lost trying to find your German Airbnb, or asking locals where they like to eat, you’re flexing social muscles you didn’t know you had. And with each experience, you grow. Travel is loaded with health and wellness benefits.
Food as Cultural Entry Point
Some of my most transformative travel moments have come from food. I’m talking gas station pretzels in Germany that could possibly bring you to tears. Gourmet pot pies on a mountain top in California. $6 blueberry lavender mules that made for the perfect happy hour and bonding experience.
Food is a shortcut to understanding a place’s history, values, and soul. It opens up conversations and lowers defenses. When you eat like a local, you connect like a local.
And it’s not just about the food itself. It’s about how we gather around it. Meals create moments. They give structure to the day, an excuse to linger, a context to swap stories.
Connecting Through Travel & The Outdoors
The outdoors has become a huge part of how I travel and why I love it. There’s just something about being in nature, away from screens, surrounded by fresh air and big skies, that makes me feel more grounded. More human.
Being outside helps me reset. Whether I’m running an ultra in Utah, camping solo in the Tetons, or just sitting on a beach watching the waves roll in, I come back from those moments clearer and more connected, not just to the world, but to myself.
Nature doesn’t need a filter. It gives you space to think, feel, and just be. And in that stillness, I’ve had some of my most honest conversations, with myself and others.
Connection Doesn’t Always Look The Same
We often think of travel memories as group shots or crowded tables. But some of the deepest connections I’ve formed on the road have been quiet and unexpected: a long chat with a campground neighbor, a laugh shared with a stranger over going off trail, a shared moment of peace on Sullivan’s Island.
Travel gives us permission to connect outside our usual scripts. And when we do, we remember that the world isn’t as lonely or divided as it sometimes feels. Connecting through travel can open up doors of opportunity and introduce you to life-changing relationships that last.
Final Thought
I used to think travel was about discovery. Now I think it’s about reflection. Each place shows me something different, not just about where I am, but about who I am and where I want to go. I always find that I am connecting through travel, whether it’s with the waitress at a local restaurant or the zip line instructor in Mexico.
It turns out, the best way to study human behavior might be to live it. Not from a desk or deep in a book or pages of data. But with your feet in the mud, your hands full of trail snacks, and your eyes open wide.
Because people? They’re fascinating. And the world is full of them.
And that, my friends, is why I travel.
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