Destination: Discomfort
Exploring why the unfamiliar is often the most transformative destination of all.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
— Often attributed to Albert Einstein
Most Fridays I take you somewhere concrete: a coastline, a capital, a far-flung dot you may or may not be able to find without zooming. But today’s destination is harder to pin down. This week, we’re traveling to a place you won’t find on Google Maps: discomfort.
Let’s be honest: humans are wired for comfort. We build routines: morning coffees, favorite sweaters, the same route to work…because predictability quiets the noise of daily life. Travel isn’t immune to this instinct. Many of us pick the same destinations, the same hotels, the same time of year, because it feels safe. No surprises. No stress. No risk of “wasting” precious vacation days.
But here’s the tricky part: comfort rarely teaches us anything. Discomfort, on the other hand, is where growth hides: inconvenient, unpredictable, and absolutely worth the trouble.
Discomfort isn’t punishment. It’s a compass pointing somewhere new.
The Myth of the “Perfect Vacation”
So many of us travel the same way we shop at the grocery store: out of habit.
A familiar resort in Mexico. A cruise you could navigate blindfolded. Paris…again.
There’s nothing wrong with this. Familiarity is comforting. But when we make travel about reliability instead of discovery, we unintentionally shrink our world. We stop asking questions. We stop wondering.
And then, when we finally shake up our routine, we’re surprised:
“Wait…maybe I do like hiking.”
“Wow, street food doesn’t automatically equal food poisoning.”
“I didn’t know I’d enjoy a place where nobody speaks English.”
You may not love every part of the unfamiliar — and that’s fine. The point isn’t to create a flawless vacation; it’s to introduce friction that teaches you something about what you value.
Discomfort creates contrast. And contrast is what makes memory sticky.
Seeking Growth in Unexpected Places
I’m writing this from a travel conference — yes, an actual conference — packed with some of the world’s most traveled people. Initially, I hesitated. After years organizing conferences for a UN agency, the idea of voluntarily sitting in breakout sessions sounded…questionable at best.
But here’s the twist: it wasn’t the event I needed to seek out, it was the people it attracts.
People who challenge your assumptions.
People who’ve stood in places you didn’t know existed.
People who make you ask, “Why haven’t I tried that?”
Sometimes discomfort looks like a foreign country.
Sometimes it looks like sitting next to a stranger who’s walked across Greenland or visited every country in the world without taking a single airplane.
Being surrounded by people who live differently than you is its own kind of terrain…and just as worth exploring.
Small Steps Into the Unfamiliar
Trying something new doesn’t require quitting your job, selling your furniture, and moving to Patagonia (unless you want to, which…fair). It can start quietly:
If you always cruise the Caribbean, try a European river cruise.
If you always rent a condo, try a guesthouse or local homestay.
If you always stick to cities, try a national park.
If you always go for beaches, try mountains…or vice versa.
Think of discomfort as a dial, not a switch. You can turn it up one click at a time.
And when you try something new, even if it’s imperfect, you build a bigger emotional vocabulary. You add new textures to your travel memory bank. You stop needing things to be “perfect” because you’re too busy paying attention.
The Real Question
When I talk to friends about embracing discomfort, they often say:
“I get so little vacation. I don’t want to grow — I want to relax, unwind, and enjoy.”
Fair point. But that answer usually reveals something deeper:
If your day-to-day life feels so draining that you need travel to undo it, maybe the real problem isn’t the travel: it’s the life you’re returning to.
If you’re running on empty 50 weeks a year and using two weeks to refill the tank, that’s not a vacation problem. That’s a lifestyle problem. This isn’t meant to be judgmental; we’re all here for the same thing — to reflect on our lives, travel, and getting the most out of this precious little time we have on Earth.
Travel shouldn’t just be an escape hatch. It should be a reminder of possibility: the version of you that’s curious, awake, and open to surprise.
Discomfort, approached intentionally, doesn’t make travel harder. It makes it richer.
Your Turn
What’s a moment when you said “yes” to something uncomfortable and discovered something unexpectedly wonderful because of it?
I’d love to hear your story.
So many time a food or a drink has been offered by a local that clearly falls outside of the normal range of what I eat. I grew up in a house without interesting food or flavors. I'm always amazed what I now eat and drink, and it's only because a lot of time when a local has suggested something I've said "ok." Doesn't always hit the mark (I'm looking at you, golonka), but I eat so much crazy Asian and Latin American food now that my parents are super confused at where I try to take them for dinner.