Finding Deeper Meaning in Travel
27 February, 2025
There's more to travel than just seeing new places and posting photos on your socials. Travel can also open doors to the past that resonate deeply with yourself and even your family.
A Bangkok Homecoming
One of the great things about travel is that it helps us understand our place in the world. It enriches mental health, provides unmatched learning for children, and, if done right, gives us stories that will fuel years of anecdotes and tales of adventure at campfires and family reunions. It can also reconnect us with our past in powerful and surprising ways.
We saw a fantastic example of this with a family who recently had an amazing Smiling Albino adventure in Thailand. Their journey became an unexpected and deeply moving homecoming for their matriarch, June, thanks to the patience and dedication of two of our skilled local guides. But more on that in a bit.
Simply put, travel, even at its most basic level, is a powerful tool for personal development. Professor Adam Galinsky, who has authored numerous papers on the effect travel has on the brain, highlights how the benefits really become clear when emphasis is placed on deeper cultural experiences.
“The key, critical process is multicultural engagement, immersion, and adaptation. Someone who lives abroad and doesn’t engage with the local culture will likely get less of a creative boost than someone who travels abroad and really engages in the local environment,” he wrote. At Smiling Albino, we wholeheartedly agree.
This philosophy of deep cultural engagement came to life in an unforgettable way for one of our guests. Let’s return to the story of June, whose journey became an emotional connection with her past..
Reconnecting With the Past
June was born in Thailand, but had moved to the United States as a young girl. Now a grandmother, time had softened the edges of her memories, but she held onto two fragments: a large bridge and a white temple. She remembered crossing the bridge as a child, though she wasn’t sure where it was, and a nameless nearby temple which kept turtles within its walls that was somehow tied to her family.
Two of our star guides, Mr Joe and Ms Namo, listened carefully to June’s recollections, piecing together her childhood memories with local knowledge and historical context. Throughout the day Joe and Namo asked gentle questions, helping June connect the dots as they visited the areas she used to play in as a little girl. Slowly, the fragments started to coalesce into a fuller picture.
Then, finally, a breakthrough. Bangkok’s stately Memorial Bridge looked familiar, and then a nearby temple, Wat Prayurawongsawas Worawihan and its large stupa, jogged some memories as well. With the guide’s help, they spoke to the temple’s caretakers, who told of the temple’s large pond, full of turtles, which Thai culture connects with longevity and good fortune. Then – continuing to ask questions and trace records – an emotional discovery. Here, in this temple she had nearly forgotten, was her mother’s burial site. And with more careful searching, they found her mother’s grave.
For June and her family, this wasn’t just a vacation—it was a journey home, a reconnection with a past that had once felt lost. Their experience was a testament to the profound ways that travel can serve as a bridge between history and the present, between memory and reality.
The experience was also a reminder of the value of having a guide who does more than just show travelers the sights. A great guide listens, understands, and has the intuition to read between the lines of memory and history, helping travelers uncover the deeper, more meaningful stories within their journey.
Recalling the day, guide Namo said, “This trip made my heart flutter – I was so happy I can barely put it into words. I’m so honored that a little guide like me can be a part of this family’s most treasured memories.”
Indeed, the entire Smiling Albino team followed June’s trip as it unfolded, and we were all thrilled it had such an emotional and meaningful conclusion.
Not every trip will lead to a moment as profound as this, but every journey has the potential to change us – whether by deepening our understanding of the world or reconnecting us with lost stories. Where will your next adventure take you?
