I take travel very seriously. Sure, it’s fun and it can include moments of relaxing on the beach and eating delicious foods, but to me, it’s about learning about the world and growing as an individual. If it wasn’t for travel, I would not have experienced many of the things that make me who I am today.

Each time I travel, I enter a place I’ve never been before. I am entering the darkness, and by doing so voluntarily, I grow stronger, more confident, and more proud of myself and my capabilities. Whether it’s volunteering at a farm and learning how to grow rice, learning about the history of Angkor Wat, or just trying to find a place to sleep despite being lost in translation, I am gathering more information and expanding the landscape of not just where I’ve been physically, but where I’m going mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

While on the rare occasion, I will treat myself to a nicer room just for an opportunity to have some privacy and to recharge, as I’m writing this, I am cramped in a tiny bed at a hostel that costs $5 dollars a night. It’s not glamorous at all and the showers are cold. But that’s fine, this is part of what traveling is about.

Travel is homework, and I want to keep learning and studying for the rest of my life.

by Jason Lam