Have you ever gone on a trip that has changed you for the better?

Who can say?

Whenever I go on a trip I feel this way.

I agree with R2. But if I had to pick three destinations that made me feel this way above others, they would be Vietnam, Slovenia and Rome.

Angkor Wat

Sunsets over the Aegean Sea as I sat atop one of the highest points in Mykonos have stayed with me for many years.

Yes, my latest trip to the bathhouse has changed my hole size for the better. I am bigger down there.

Most trips. Even domestic trips make me appreciate coming back to NYC and give a renewed perspective on what can become a routine grind.

Foreign countries always make you appreciate the US. Even in Europe - as much as I appreciate the politics, culture, ease of transport, architecture, I miss little things I take for granted about home that I appreciate more when I return.

Travel as learning and perspective giving is wonderful. Just don’t use it as an escape from life - because reality can be that much more depressing upon return.

took a trip to the terlet and squeezed out some business. definitely feel changed for the better. and I found the crayon I ate when I was 3!

Yes. Peru.

I once spent a month in Vermont visiting a college friend - a long time ago. It was so boring that when I got back to the city I knew I could never live in such a small town environment ever again.

Yes, I learned to eat, love, pray, laugh, live.

Chamonix, France, Venice, riding the train through the Alps on my way to Austria, Iguasu Falls, Brazil, the Greek Isles. Magnificent. Gorgeous. Great memories

Ireland

Leaving Kansas was a hell of a trip!

Stockholm in August near the Baltic Sea

Paris in June.

I’d have to say Japan. It was just so different to what I was expecting. I’m not in the least bit religious, but their shrines showing up unexpectedly in the middle of the city was a tranquil break. The food was delicious, the people friendly and helpful and I never worried I was being taken or overcharged. Also I remember years ago some friends and I traveled to French Polynesia and taking the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea. The water was azure blue and flying fish were leaving the water in front of the ferry.

Being on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean and having them turn the deck lights off --- the night sky, with its millions of stars, is truly awe inspiring/ humbling/ inspirational. Illustrates the true vastness of the universe.

Turkey - spent a month there. Istanbul, Troy, other amazing, storied places. It just breathes antiquity. Similar to r17, I found visiting Anatolia a humbling experience, seeing traces of old civilizations. So many people have come and gone leaving behind the occasional tomb, pottery shard, foundation wall. So many forgotten -- ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Tanzania. The people were lovely and gracious. And the Safari was a once in a lifetime experience. It was a very spiritual trip.

Experiencing the overwhelming majesty of the Canadian Rockies and the younger Canadians’ anger with the Americans’ casual, destructive attitude toward the environment changed me 20 years ago. Americans tend to have an unconsciously arrogant “Canadians are our good- natured younger siblings” attitude which that trip cured. Canadians were much more environmentally aware.

My best friend attended an Oxford University summer program years ago. When she returned from England, she told me she hadn’t realized how neurotic Americans were until she visited England.

I just returned from Ravello, Capri and Sorrento, Italy and was touched by how connected/intimate the communities appear to be despite the intrusion of tourism.

In 2008 I had earned some free Hyatt nights that were going to expire so I used it as an excuse to fly to Japan for 6 nights (3 in Kyoto, 3 in Osaka). It wasn't my first trip to Japan, but it was my first trip alone.

A couple of weeks before I was to leave, the company I worked for filed for Chapter 11. Panicked, I ran into my boss's office to ask what I should do. He asked if the tickets were non-refundable, which of course they were. He said 'Go. There's nothing you can do here while the lawyers sort it all out. Have fun, forget about this place, and enjoy yourself'.

So I went.

We had studied Japan in fourth grade, back in the 1960s. Back then, for us a family vacation was Disneyland every few years so it was beyond my wildest dreams that I'd ever visit Kyoto. But when I dragged my jet-lagged ass to Chion-in, built in the 1600s, and stood there alone in front of the magnificent temple in the ethereal morning mist, I started to cry. I had a wonderful life, I'd traveled and seen more than that little fourth grader could ever have imagined. So what if I ended up losing my job (I did, in fact, six months later), I'd find another. My problems seemed so small and insignificant.

Ever since then, whenever I have 'one of those days', I think back to that morning in Kyoto and realize life goes on no matter what you do. We're here for only a short time, so you'd better enjoy it while you can.

Iceland, South Africa, Malawi, Umbria, Japan

I lived in West Hollywood for 25 years. I moved to New York City over 10 years ago. A few years ago, I went back to WeHo and was more certain than ever that I made the right decision. Before that, I had visited New York and San Francisco many times and debated which city I would move to if I chose to move. Having heard what SF has become, I know I made the right decision although I still get the urge to trip all the idiots walking and reading their phones on the street.

No, I haven't.

Costa Brava, Spain. Utterly glorious.

I love to travel but coming back to my shithole life is heartbreaking.

Uluru-Ayers Rock - have made three trips and each time it has an impact

I came out to my friends and family after hooking up with a guy for the first time on a trip to London.

It was in his car, parked a block from the train station.

Thailand. The rural areas. Made me understand what third world really means. Made me humble and ashamed of my entitled attitude towards everything.

Japan. It really is a mindfuck for a Westerner

I made some money and took an old friend to Europe for the first time. She has had a rough few years -- indeed, a challenging life altogether -- and the way she loved and savored every moment made me appreciate the excitement of travel.

These places all sound gorgeous.

[quote]Rick Steves

Need some cardio or something...

Oh now i wanna go tp turkey

Every time I go to Western Europe. Makes one realize how much Americans need everything “supersized” - homes, cars, workdays, meals - yet have less to show for it.

I find Western Europeans so much more well-informed, sophisticated, classy, elegant.

They have quality of life. Americans focus on quantity.

I come back trying to emulate the quality in a sea of quantity-seekers and it is refreshing.