At one point in the film True Stories, David Byrne says  "When I first come to a place, I notice all the little details. I notice the way the sky looks. The color of white paper. The way people walk. Doorknobs. Everything. Then I get used to the place and I don't notice those things anymore. So only by forgetting can I see the place again as it really is."

We're more observant when we travel, we're more open to new ideas.  I'm less shy and more extroverted, and I tend to do things I would never dream of doing back home.

When we travel, we practice awareness and attentiveness and adventurousness, and by that practice we become more aware, more attentive, more adventurous.  With some training, we can bring those virtues back home with us and practice them even after we return.  We can notice the quality of light back home, the color of white paper.

This kind of observant, mindful travel is very different than travel as a status symbol, or travel merely for the sake of bragging about where we've been.  We should travel for the sake of the journey, not for the destination.

And that journey can be right here at home.