Mission Statement: Our “Why?”

One morning in Amsterdam, I had WAY too many cups of coffee (I could feel my eyebrows vibrating) and decided to sit down to articulate an idea that had been bouncing around in my head for literal years at that point. 

It’s an idea that is at the core of who I am (Matt here!) and what I believe, and, by extension, what this website is all about. 

And it’s also an answer to all sorts of existential questions like “what am I even doing here?” and “what’s my mission here?”

Over the years, I have come to realize that travel has had a dramatic impact on who I am as a person.

I have become more empathetic, open to other points of view and perspectives, curious, and adaptable, and I firmly believe that my experiences traveling around the world have contributed to those changes. 

I believe that travel can be a transformative experience. It forces you outside of your comfort zone (in ways big and small), pushes you to see things from a different point of view, and opens your mind to new possibilities. 

In short, I think travel makes you a better person. 

Why do I believe that, you ask? Because it happened to me. 

I had never left the U.S. until I was 22. I had never even been to any of the national parks in my home state of Washington! 

If we’re being completely honest (brutally so, you might say), I almost certainly wouldn’t have been friends with that version of myself.

I probably wouldn’t have even liked myself, even for a short conversation at a bar or coffee shop. 

I was headstrong, believed I was always right and that America was the best country on earth and could do no wrong (still believe the first part – though it gets harder every day! – not the second part though), and wasn’t super open to other people’s perspectives if they were different from my own. 

Then I went on my first international trip in 2012. And while it was a fairly basic “American’s first trip to Europe” that took me to London, Paris, and Rome over way too few days, it also kicked off the slow change in me that travel has wrought over the past 12 years or so. 

At the end of the day, I want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to experience that change for themselves. 

But here’s the thing; travel can also be stressful, exhausting, and overwhelming (especially when dietary restrictions are involved). Especially when it’s your first time outside of your home country. 

Where should I go? How do I get around? Where should I stay? What do I need to know before I go? 

So what happens if you don’t have the answers to those questions, and that trip doesn’t go well?

I remember listening to a podcast with a local food writer here in Portland as they were talking about their job as they see it. 

They were talking about why it’s important to write negative reviews (something I still struggle with, because I know it’s tough out there for small businesses), and something they said really resonated with me (so much so that I immediately started slowly crafting this piece in the back of my mind). 

People save up for weeks, months, even years for a special experience like fine dining (the same applies for travel).

If that experience doesn’t go as expected – the food isn’t cooked or seasoned right, the service is bad, etc etc – they might start to think that the problem is them, and maybe fine dining just isn’t for them. 

That first fine dining experience is critical in determining whether they’ll try fine dining again in the future.

If the first experience is great, they’ll start saving for the next one (and be inspired to try new things at home in the kitchen in the meantime).

If it’s not, they’ll never do it again. 

The food writer’s job, as they see it, is to have the same experience that readers will (which is why a good food writer never tells a restaurant they’re visiting in advance, I believe) and then tell the truth and set expectations for the reader so that they have an amazing dining experience that sets them up for a future of other experiences. 

You can basically substitute “travel” for “fine dining” or “food experience” in the paragraphs above, and that reflects almost exactly how I feel about my role here. 

That first trip is SO important in determining your future travels. 

You save and save and save for the opportunity to have an experience that you’ll remember forever (in a positive way, it should be said), and you DESERVE to have it live up to those expectations! 

My job, as I see it, is to provide you the information that you need to plan an incredible trip so that you come home craving more. 

That’s why our guides are so thorough and detailed – so that you have as much information as we can think of to help answer your questions about visiting a place. 

And, crucially, it’s all based on our own (unsponsored) experiences.

Yes, we know that it’s CRAZY that we actually do almost every single thing we write about, but it’s not always the case here on the world wide web. 

Part of my mission is to help first time international travelers have a great first experience abroad to light the proverbial fire of travel in them and have them craving more by the time their return flight arrives home. 

Because, ultimately, I believe travel can (and should) be a transformative experience that makes you a better person, and all you need is that first positive experience.

That’s not to say that our guides are only for first time travelers.

Obviously, a thorough and detailed guide based on first-hand experience is going to appeal to a wide range of travelers, from first timers to grizzled travel veterans. 

But for the more experienced travelers out there, chances are that you already know that travel is transformative, and you probably don’t need us to tell you that. 

Cheers to the power of travel to make us better human beings. 

-Matt