For me, traveling was never just about hitting the road and getting to know a new place. It’s much, much more than that. It has always been a way to live new experiences, to grow as a person and also as a professional, to overcome fears, overcome challenges and transform the way of living life. Anyway… I could spend hours and hours talking about how much I evolved in each of the destinations I visited, but I decided to bring you the essence of everything I learned from traveling.
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Who am I?
Let me introduce myself.
I’m Rodrigo Schmiegelow, an advertiser specializing in Digital Marketing. Today I live as a Digital Nomad (what is it). In other words, I have geographic freedom and can work from anywhere in the world.
That’s why I can have amazing experiences like this.
I started a trip around the world to get to know places, cultures and regional cuisines. And I will bring great surprises from these experiences.
I’m on the Farofa expedition, getting to know regional cuisines from all over Brazil.
Follow the O Mundo em Lanches Project (The world in sandwiches) blog on Instagram.
Back to the post’s subject… Everything I Learned from Traveling
As I said: I could write a book about everything I learned during my travels, but I will briefly share with you what I experienced!
I hope you have a… inspiring read!
The unforeseen events taught me a lot
An example of this was the experience I will describe below.
When I went to Argentina, I decided to risk taking the old Ruta 40, even though it looked like the mountain road was a dirt road and even after seeing some negative reports on the internet about the place.
Well, as said, the road was terrible! It was made of sand, which is worse than dirt. And after four hours of driving around, I saw that the weather was getting bad. I thought there was a storm going on, but it didn’t reach me.
When I passed in front of a village, La Jaula, a dog came out of a house and passed in front of the motorcycle. Conclusion: even trying to escape the animal, I ended up hitting him and fell trying to brake. The dog was fine! And in the meantime some people from that village came to help me.
When I parked the motorbike in the backyard of the people who helped me, it started to rain heavily, the ice pellets were the size of golf balls. That storm destroyed several stretches of the road and I couldn’t go neither the way I came or the way I planned to go.
Therefore, I spent four nights camping in that backyard, and I still think that dog saved my life. Never, any dog passed in front of my motorcycle like this one did. It sounds dramatic, but the ice pellets that ruined the dirt road were very big, and that family told me that, in a previous storm, one of the motorcyclists who was passing by couldn’t resist.
I can say that this trip was my greatest experience in terms of learning:
- Living in a village with four houses, with few resources, showed me that I don’t need much to be happy.
- In addition, as I had no cell phone signal, my anxiety gradually decreased a lot, because everything was peaceful, serene and very beautiful there.
- This experience also showed the sense of impotence when facing situations like this. Not everything can be planned!
This is quite a resume of what I learned from traveling.
The people you meet while traveling taught important lessons
Much more than the destinations, the people in each destination can change the way we see life.
I could say a huge list of names who taught me incredible learnings during my travels. However I’m going to share one more story with you!
The Chilean receptivity was very interesting and got me thinking for weeks. For me, Chileans have the best of the Uruguayans, in other words, offer help, and the best of Argentines, who are warm and receptive. And this became even more clear when the health crisis, at the beginning of the pandemic, got worse.
First, two friends I made on the road offered me a place to leave the motorcycle for as long as I needed, as well as a place to spend a few days while I couldn’t return to Brazil.
This was a really generous gesture, trusting others and empathy. The family that hosted me in Argentina also will always be remembered by me. They didn’t have much and didn’t know how long they would be stuck there. Even so, they shared the small amount of food they had and let a stranger sleep in their backyard.
You can guess how much I learned from traveling and living these unique experiences!
Local dishes also teach us – Everything I Learned from Traveling
This is the last topic, due to the meaning it has for me. Those of you who follow my blog know how much I enjoy talking about my experiences and the dishes I had in every destination. I get surprised by each new thing I try, like the Uruguayan Parrilla (barbecue) that a friend’s mother made for me. The egg and cheese stuffed cucumber stood out, sensational!
During my life as a digital nomad, I was able to try a little of the cuisine of each country I’ve been to. From gaucho barbecue (barbecue from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) with whole beef pieces, to Uruguayan and Argentine parrilla, with lots of morcela (blood sausage).
Dishes prepared with seaweed surprised me in Uruguay, the seaweed muffins being sold everywhere in coastal cities… And each dish improvised by those who hosted me during hard times also taught me a lot and made my experience more special.
I’ve learned much more from traveling than you can imagine. For me, leaving home, overcoming fears, anxieties and unforeseen events made me exactly what I am today.
Now, I want to know more about your story!
What were your best lessons you learned in your travels? Tell us in the comments!
