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I now realize that growing up, my family pampered me extensively. They imbued into me a sense of fragility and uneasiness which was kept in check only by remaining strictly within the boundaries of my well-defined comfort zone. “Don’t talk to new people and say no to new things” was my motto early in life.

How to Find Your True Self by Exploring Different Cultures

As such, by the time I finally had to go away from home to college, I was a perfectly restrained, introverted, overly careful individual. Even away from the protective grip of the family, my life still consisted of repeating the cycle of acts that were familiar to me and which gave me the feeling of safety and security.

The Shock

That all changed when I traveled to India for the first time. My previous trips abroad, well-planned and short-lived as they were, took place well within a cultural standard which was still known to me. The architecture, food, clothing style and expected behavior were largely the same as the ones I was accustomed to. As such, traveling had no major impact on me at first.

Culture shock finally caught up with me as soon as I landed in India. Without sounding unnecessarily poetic, the world had a different color there. Or better put multiple colors. The very environment was essentially different and foreign to me. For the first time, I gained real perspective, becoming aware of my individuality and size on this planet.

From hand gestures to clothes and greetings, everything was different. Without realizing, at first I mostly glared at my new surroundings and the people populating it. Interaction seemed wildly inappropriate. Culture shock had overwhelmed me with silence.

The Accommodation

After the initial shock, my plan all side tried to compensate the novel surroundings by behaving as it usually did. The street was covered in color and diversity. I found that I could ask almost anyone on the street for directions and they would answer in satisfactory English. Speaking to the peculiar strangers made me realize, despite our differences, how much we had in common. One by one, the preconceptions and stereotypes that I held as absolute truths shattered before a reality that was radically and wonderfully different.

I slowly started to let go. Instead of sightseeing, I let the city take me wherever it wanted. Going off the beaten track led me to meet different people. Their world was dramatically different than mine, with values and goals that barely even occurred to me. Interacting with them reminded me of something that I already knew – that the world is vast and that my safety zone is but a speck of dust in it.

My own outfit became rich in colors and surrounded by my new friends-slash-guides, I discovered the feeling of being part of a community. This is something that I experienced in other places as well. Living side by side with starkly different people from across the globe, even for a limited amount of time, taught me acceptance and friendship.

The Experience and the Lesson

Since my first trip to India, I traveled as much as I could and I had always wanted to see Europe. After all, what better multicultural country to start than one which has 4 official languages? Switzerland was absolutely mesmerizing and Annecy proved to be as breathtaking as my Indian experience. I felt my wanderlust blossoming as flowers do in spring. My path carried me from the French Alps to the border of the Atacama Desert, from the Panama Canal to the high slopes of Tibet. With each travel, I discovered another piece of my true self and got to know myself bit by bit.

The entire experience I got from traveling and exploring different cultures was not that it changed who I was, but that it primarily allowed me to discover parts of me that I did not previously know. For example, I found out that I loved spicy foods, that powerfully scented candles make me dizzy and that I was extremely fond of animals, which I only looked at before as mere carriers of diseases.

I discovered that I could live in the present without having to nervously plan my every waking moment. My true self, a psychological concept that is cross-culturally stable, was not that of a frightened introvert, but of a charming and outgoing person that could befriend total strangers in a few minutes.

At the same time, I found that I could deal with large periods of being on my own. Alone and often confused, I had to face every situation by counting on my ability to pull through no matter. If confident is not the way in which I would have described myself before, traveling revealed to me a strength and an ability to adapt that I never thought I had.

Perhaps the most important lesson I got from traveling and exploring different cultures is that the best journey is within ourselves. No matter where, when and with whom we are at any given point in our lives, we can make the most of it and live life to its fullest by being our true selves. The best way to discover that part of us, of course, is by exploring different cultures.

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