Passion for Travel
Fifty countries. One journey inward.
I have been to fifty countries. Everywhere I go, I find the exact same person. Only built differently. Sometimes shaped by history. Sometimes by culture. Sometimes by the stories we tell ourselves.
I do not travel to escape. I travel to listen. To see how other people construct reality. Because when you see how many different ways there are to be human, you realize that your own way is not the only way. It is just one possibility.
The search for the authentic
My travels are rarely about seeing the sights. They are about finding the source. When I wanted to understand Thai massage, I didn't go to a spa. I went to Wat Pho. When I wanted to understand Tantric Buddhism, I went to Dharamsala and Gyuto Monastery.
There is a transmission that happens when you go to the source. You don't just learn the techniques. You absorb the context. The history. The environment that gave birth to the practice.
"The world is a book. If you do not travel, you read only one page. I want to read the whole book. Not to collect stamps in a passport. But to understand the full spectrum of what it means to be human."
In Tibet, I saw devotion that humbled me. People prostrating themselves for miles around Mount Kailash. Not for personal gain. But for the liberation of all beings. Seeing that kind of devotion changes your understanding of what the human heart is capable of.
The mirror of culture
Culture is an operating system. It runs in the background. It tells us what is normal. What is valuable. What is true.
When you stay in your own culture, you never see the operating system. You just assume it is reality. But when you travel, you encounter different operating systems. You see people who value completely different things. Who understand time differently. Who understand relationship differently.
In India, time is circular. In the West, it is linear. In Japan, silence is communication. In the West, silence is an awkward pause that must be filled.
Encountering these differences forces you to look at your own assumptions. It forces you to ask: Is this true? Or is this just what I was taught?
The universal human
But beneath the differences, there is something universal. The deeper I travel, the more I see it.
Everywhere I go, people want the same fundamental things. They want to be safe. They want to be loved. They want their children to have a better life. They want to find meaning in their suffering.
The forms change. The rituals change. The languages change. But the core human experience remains the same. We are all drops in the same ocean. Made of the same atoms. Driven by the same desires.
This realization brings a deep sense of connection. When you see yourself in the stranger across the world, compassion becomes natural. It is no longer an effort. It is just the logical response to reality.
Application to life
I bring this perspective back to my work. When I build technology, I try to remember the universal human. I try to build systems that serve that core experience.
Travel has taught me humility. It has shown me how vast the world is, and how small my understanding of it is. It keeps my mind open. It keeps me asking questions rather than assuming I have the answers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you focus on spiritual destinations?
Because they are the places where humans have spent centuries asking the most important questions. The energy of that inquiry remains in the physical location.
How does travel affect your work in AI?
It prevents me from thinking that Western logic is the only logic. AI is built on data. If the data is only Western, the AI will only understand a fraction of humanity. Travel reminds me of the rest of the dataset.
What was the most challenging place you visited?
The places that challenged my ego the most. Where efficiency didn't matter. Where my status meant nothing. Those are always the most valuable trips.