Giving New Orleans a Chance

Last Updated: September 25, 2020

Prompt #8: Travel and learning go hand in hand. Travel teaches us not only about the world and the people in it, but also more about ourselves and our own ideas and values. What has travel taught you this year?

“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves” –Euripides

I would probably travel anywhere, but there are some destinations that live way lower on my list of where I’d like to go next. The kind of places where you think, “that city isn’t really for me.” or “It’s not really my ‘style’.” New Orleans is was one of those places. I took a fairly last minute 4-day trip in October and ended up falling in love with New Orleans. I started out with very low expectations, because I’d always considered NOLA more of a party destination (I suppose I had always lumped it alongside Las Vegas (which I haven’t been to either) in the “I’ll pass” category), but I found the city and its people to be inspiring. There’s so much history in New Orleans, and excellent food, fantastic old cocktails (Sazeracs), amazing music…

What I learned from my New Orleans trip this year was that even though I’ve been around the world, sometimes the places in your own backyard (or 2,000 miles away, but technically still in your backyard as far as countries go) can leave just as big of an impression as an international trip.

Lesson learned: Don’t let your personal bias make you skip a destination.

What has travel taught you this year?

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