I am about to say something that will sound snobby at first, but I am asking you to look past it because I want to make a point…

Sometimes when I travel, I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and it takes a moment to remember where I am and where the bathroom is. This moment of confusion can be startling, but eventually I get my bearings and stumble my way to the correct place to find relief.

You may read that sentence and miss why I think this is such an amazing gift. I am so blessed to get to travel so much every year that sometimes I am confused about where I am when I wake up. This is a great problem to have in my way of thinking. I see the world as a playground waiting to be explored, and if this “inconvenience” of being disoriented sometimes in the middle of the night is a byproduct, I am completely ok with that.

Travel is a gateway into amazing adventures waiting to be explored. It opens the doorway to peoples, cultures and experiences that have the potential to impact how we see our world and the ways that we can add value to it. Travel is the invitation to discover that even if we come from different backgrounds, and speak different languages, a smile can transcend so many obstacles.

As of 2018, the population of the world was 7,655,957,369. That’s a lot of people. These seven billion+ people represent 7,099 different languages, 195 different countries and somewhere between 11,500-13,000 different ethno-linguistic people groups. We can add so many other differences like color, gender and socio-economic status to this list and still find ourselves seeing only our differences.

I choose to live life with a different perspective.

When I look at the world and see all the differences, I purposely look for what actually draws us together: We are all human and we all have a story. Period. Simple. And probably what fuels travel for me more than anything else.

I look at the world and I see every trip that I take as an opportunity to connect with people and their story. This can be a tour guide, a shop owner, an attendant at a hostel or hotel, or simply someone who sees that I am obviously an American and wants to practice their English with me. Each person I encounter when I travel is a narrative that I get to engage with.

Before I move on, let me acknowledge that I am an extrovert and I love people. The biggest pushback that I get from people that are more introverted (which is a sizeable chunk of the world population…) is that my bias in what I am writing doesn’t acknowledge that it takes more energy for someone who is more extroverted to connect with and engage new people. I agree with this assessment: It will take some energy and conscious effort. I am asking all of the introverts in the world to please not assume that I am asking you to become friends with every stranger you interact with while traveling. I am asking you to make the effort to at least engage with someone along the way and see the place where you are traveling through the eyes of a native.

So…here is my best secret and tool to help all introverts, extroverts and ambiverts (yes…ambiverts are real…) take the plunge into seeing the world through the narrative of the native: Go on a walking tour.

Just about any place that you travel to around the world has an opportunity to go on a walking tour. Many times these tours may be free, and simply ask you to give a gratuity to the guide at the end; and there are also many options to pay for specific walking tours that will take you further into the narrative of some amazing cities and places around the globe. I have used Tours by Locals many times, and I have had some amazing experiences. They do a lot of the vetting legwork to help create a streamlined way to pay for your tour online. I also want to encourage you to think about the journey to get to your destination as a part of the experience. I wish that we lived in a world where all flight schedules aligned and log layovers never happen…but this is not the world we live in. As much as we try, long layovers happen. Maybe it is time to check out some “layover tours” in some of these amazing international airports. Personally, one of the best walking tours I have ever had was in Frankfurt, Germany with a tour group called Frankfurt On Foot. It made a long layover so much more enjoyable as we spent time seeing this amazing European gateway city on a 5-6 hour tour that picked us up and dropped us off back at the airport to make our connection.

The world is waiting. Walking tours give you the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a local…and to also make a dent in your 10,000 steps goal for the day. There are some places, like Berlin, that I will continue to go on walking tours over and over again because I keep getting different perspectives of that city through the eyes of very different people. What are you waiting for? It’s your time to see the world and meet people who will help you see your own life back at home differently…

Ok…so in the spirit of opening up a can of worms…I want you to know that there are so many mixed thoughts about free walking tours versus paid walking tours (take a peek at some travel websites like TripAdvisor for the lowdown). There are a host of people that will shame you into only going with the paid options, and I want to throw an opinion into the mix. I have done both free tours and paid tours. I have had great feee tours, and I have had some “meh” free tours. The same holds true with paid tours for me. My best piece of advice is…try both! In Berlin, I have had amazing experiences with Sademans New Europe Free Berlin Walking Tour. I have had multiple Berliners as tour guides that have made this amazing city come to life for me. I tipped them well, and I never felt like they were being too salesy along the way about asking people to tip well at the end.