With spring break behind us and summer coming up, it is a time of travel. Whether you’re going on the trip of a lifetime this summer or you’re just staying home, getting out, experiencing, and exploring the world is crucial to the human experience.

This past spring break, I had the opportunity to travel to Thailand. Experiencing Thai culture was something I had never been exposed to before. In doing so, I came to the realization that travel teaches you something about what it means to be human. Now, I’m not saying you have to travel across the world to gain some crucial insight. But, what I am saying is you must expose yourself to other cultures and ways of life in order to open your mind to the world.

While traveling abroad, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with people from completely different walks of life. From Buddhist monks to people from the mountain tribes of Thailand, I opened myself to the culture and gained a greater understanding of people I had no real previous interaction with. What you realize when you travel is while the world is vastly different, humans are all looking for the same things in life: happiness. At the end of the day we all just wish to be happy, whether you’re a monk from Thailand, or a high school student in Provo, Utah, we all are seeking to make the most of this life.

I think at its core, this greater appreciation for people comes from the learning and understanding of one’s culture. If you can, I encourage you to go out and see what other cultures are like. How they live, what they eat, how they dress, and how they worship. Gain a greater understanding of people through their ways of life. Seek it in your community and in your city. Don’t be afraid to go out and try a different culture’s food or see the way they live and interact even in your cities. Ask people questions, get to know them, learn to love them.

We are all a part of this world and we all live a little differently. Learn to appreciate other cultures and their way of life. If you can gain a greater understanding of people you can yourself become a better person. You start to see the things that truly matter in this world. As Mark Twain put it, “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”