The Power of Perspective

Hey 👋 it’s me, Amanda. 

Last year I went to Holi in India and even though I’ve been before, I had the best time. And when I say “the best” – I mean, an absolutely incredible, vibrantly unique, singular experience that could not be replicated.

(and if you haven’t heard… )
we’re going to India for Holi March 2025 and you should definitely come!

As an “experienced traveler,” I often have the best time.

I’d like to say it’s because of my charming personality and adventurous spirit – but quite honestly, it has a lot more to do with my outlook.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Turkey and reconnected with an old friend who’d recently been on a mixed solo group travel excursion. We chatted about old times, new times, good times and everything in between – 

At some point during our conversation, she told me her experience with this travel company wasn’t great.

“Awe that’s too bad,” – I said, “What was wrong? Accommodations? Guides? Excursions?”  (as a travel business owner, I’m very interested in this type of thing)

“No no, nothing like that,” – she tells me — “Nothing was wrong… but I’m an experienced traveler.”

I stared at her, trying to understand. Then she finished with…

“Well, it takes a lot to impress me.”

🤔

Dear travelers, today’s message is about perspective.

With the rise of remote work and an increasingly global world, more people than ever before are traveling. Which means there are a lot more ‘experienced travelers’ out there, traversing our beautiful earth, soaking up experiences and stories and everything that this incredible planet has to offer.

And how amazing is that?

But along with this surge in travel – comes a darker side:
The rise of entitlement and novelty seeking. 

So let’s talk about this toxic duo. 

Entitled Travelers

Entitlement is fairly easy to spot. You’ll find it in travelers who think the world revolves around them – who fly thousands of miles to spend their entire experience on their phones,  barking orders at hotel staff, or firing demands at servers, insulted that they may not speak English (or French, or Italian…)

It’s an attitude of “I deserve this vacation (or trip, or sabbatical) and you better meet with my expectations or damnit I’ll speak to your manager.”

That attitude might ‘do you fine’ where you’re from. But expecting a foreign country to cater to you and your comfort, doesn’t fly.

Okay, sure, your 5-star Hyatt resort will put up with it, but travel to a place outside of those curated experiences — where priorities are peace, family, quality, and kindness – and you’ll get a different reaction.

Does that mean you shouldn’t address issues while traveling? Of course not! Forgotten food or dirty towels? Talk to the staff. But birds that woke you up in the morning? 

*tiny violin playing 🎻*

But …worse than being that person, this entitlement only does a disservice to the traveler who’s carrying that attitude. Because when you show up to a new place with old expectations, you’re going to be disappointed.

This woman I spoke to in Turkey… She wasn’t upset about any specific thing. But as an ‘experienced traveler’ – she seemed to expect more pizazz, more WOW, more – something.

And that brings me to my second point:

Novelty seeking

The other dark side of ‘experienced travelers’ is when nothing impresses you anymore…

Where each experience needs to be “better than the last.” You’ve been to 25 countries. You’ve seen all the cool spots.  

You can find novelty seeking in thoughts like…

👉 “Yeah it was cool but remember that time when…”
👉 “Meh, I feel like I’ve seen all I need to here.”
👉 “Yeah it was okay but I liked [other place] more.”
👉 “Yeah but in 2008 this place was so raw, so rugged…”

… the idea that every experience should ‘top’ the last.

And travelers, if this is how you see travel,  you will be sorely disappointed.

Because every single travel experience is unique and each country, city or place has its own moments to offer if you’re open enough to let it in.

Travel doesn’t mean stacking all your experiences beside each other and qualifying them by best, favorite, most impressive and wow factor –

And maybe if you’re very lucky, when you look back on your life  – you can count the moments where you felt that magic, the elixir of presence, where you could look up at whatever sight, whatever emotion conjured inside you and think…

Just, wow. 

Because that’s the kind of travelers we need.

So the next time you head somewhere and hear someone say “that didn’t impress me much” – please do the world a favor and tell them to take the next flight home. 😋

✈️

We have been VERY fortunate to have almost always had incredible, open minded, curious, and excited women on our tours – but I just had to write about this today because it really got under my skin.

Have you ever experienced this kind of thing before?

Don’t forget to snag your ticket to our Holi-India Tour this upcoming spring — it’s a SoFe favorite and we sell out super fast!

XOX Amanda
Founder of SoFe