Learning to See: How Cultural Travel Teaches You to Pay Attention

[0:00] Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Put the Guidebook Down, the podcast where we talk about the real lessons travel gives us, the kind that don't fit neatly onto itineraries, bucket lists, or even Instagram captions, since this is all about countering the travel influencer industry. I'm your host, Kiara, the creator of Kultura Travel, and for this episode I want to explore something that has completely changed not only how I travel, but how I move through the world. I'm calling it the Art of Noticing. Travel has this incredible way of waking up parts of us that we often forget are there, or maybe didn't even know we had in us — curiosity, sensitivity, observation, stillness, confidence, the list goes on. But for this episode, we're going to talk about learning how to truly see a place and not just visit it. How cultural travel teaches you to pay attention in ways that deepen your experience, expand your empathy, and change the meaning of your memories. So that's a lot we're going to cover — let's jump right into it, covering first, what does it actually mean to learn to see when you travel?

For those who have been abroad, or maybe even just domestic travel within your own country, any travel adventure heightens your senses, because everything is unfamiliar and you're learning to navigate the new environment you're in. So you're noticing the different sounds, the different smells, the way the world goes around you in the space. This is a lot to process — you may notice that your social battery, or general battery, starts to drain a little bit quicker, and that's okay. And it may also be overwhelming or intimidating, and that's okay as well — it's just recognizing and acknowledging that you are in a different space, and therefore it's going to take a lot more to observe, understand, and process what you're taking in.

Now, many travelers tend to think they're paying attention because they're taking photos, maybe they sign up for a walking tour, maybe they're on a guided tour, going through all these different organized trips to get information. But in reality, when you take a step back to the bigger picture, they're actually not paying attention. What do I mean by this? It means you're so focused on capturing the photos, the videos, you're also on your devices, you're maybe talking with the people you're traveling with — you're not really seeing what's going on around you. We're back to that general theme I like to bring up in these episodes of being in your bubble. Because you're not actually taking a moment to put the phone down, to take a step back from the guided experience you're in, to really tune into those senses I was mentioning that are heightened, to really see what's going on around you and the environment you're in.

Now, this observation is a skill — it's not a personality trait. I don't want to go into the whole discussion of, when you're talking about certain traits, such as leadership, the famous discussion of, is it something you're born with, something you learn — it's a skill that you can develop on your own, anyone can learn it. So it's not just someone who's observant as what they are as a character — your observance, or your ability to become more observant, is a skill that you can easily learn to develop. And this is how you start to feel the shift from traveling on autopilot, just going with the flow, and it's more about traveling with intention. So what does this look like? It means, again, tuning into the five senses and really taking a step back and looking at the environment you're in. For me, I'll get more into it as we go into the episode, but this has been something I learned while first moving abroad to Moldova, and it's become something I now have adopted as a skill, not just for traveling purposes, but as a general day-to-day or character trait now that I bring with me wherever I go. And this has made me better, not just as a human being, but has also helped me in my professional life, forming relationships with people, going off and trying something new. Because when you're being more observant, you're being more open, and you're going to have a better, easier time getting to know a new situation that's foreign to you, or a new environment — ranging from a gesture, to miscommunication, different language, different details, it's all about observing the space you're in.

Once you start noticing these small details, something surprising happens — the entire way you go on an adventure changes, but also the world you live in changes, how you perceive who you are in the world you're in changes. So why are the smallest moments often the ones that stay with you? I've talked about this in previous episodes in terms of slow travel, going off the beaten path, but it really comes down to this theme of, travel memories aren't built from itineraries, but from the unexpected experiences, the ones that were not on the itinerary. And why is this? Because, as I said, they were not on the itinerary — you weren't expecting it, you weren't mentally prepared for it, it wasn't something you had even thought of, but it just happened. And therefore it maybe shook you up a little bit, got you a little bit uncomfortable, but in the best way, because it meant you learned something new and grew as a person. So this relates back to the idea of slow travel and challenging those itineraries being put together for you by travel influencers, by large travel companies, because you want that richer cultural connection — and that's what slow travel is, because it means you are observing your surroundings more, tuning into your five senses, and slowing down your pace so you have the opportunity to make those observations.

This all leads to those cultural connections and experiences, because you're able to take the knowledge from your observations and apply it to how you go about your travel. For example, living in Indonesia — I'm not talking about Bali, because Bali can be a little bit different in terms of their cultural gestures and day-to-day. When I was living in Java, in Malang, with Javanese culture, one of the big things was how you greet people, in terms of "salim," and how you initiate the conversation, maybe even formal and informal. And this is something not just for Indonesia, but across other cultures as well. But it's from these observations that you're able to have more connection with the culture you're visiting, and to develop those deeper relationships with the people, because you're making an observation and effort to immerse into the local culture. So in a way, this all kind of builds a deeper level of intimacy with the place you're visiting, maybe with the people you're meeting, and your space within the world in general — because you're seeing more meaning behind the small gestures, by the way someone stands and presents themselves, and you're getting to the roots of it and seeing it as a whole, not just an individual action or conversation. This is when you start to have more of the small moments stay with you, because you have assigned all these observations and cue points to that one memory or that one experience.

So how does paying attention help you understand and respect a culture more deeply? I kind of touched on this already earlier in the episode, but not only does it help you have a deeper, more meaningful experience, but it helps you fit into the cultural rhythms or the day-to-day of local life, rather than disrupting them. I feel like we've all been there — you're trying to enjoy a view or some kind of experience, and there's the tourist that's yapping on their cell phone, the travel vloggers standing in front of a structure you're trying to see and learn about, doing their whole episode for YouTube, and people are just trying to go around them and getting kind of frustrated with this. But you are actively creating your own personal bubble and disrupting the space you're in. Now, if you're going to tune into your senses, that's when you have the better opportunity to immerse into the experiences.

So one of the first things that comes to mind, and this is always really big with me, is when I'm going into restaurants in a foreign country, I'm always a little bit anxious in terms of making sure I'm being respectful and hitting all the cultural cues and elements, to not offend the waitstaff, the people in the restaurant, etc., to not stick out as a tourist or uneducated tourist — that's just something that's very much like me. But I observe how people greet each other when they walk in, how they interact with the staff, how they order, what they say for the check, even where they pay for the check, and tips is always a big thing, because as an American we always give tips to account for the below-minimum-wage salaries in the food industry — but this all ties into observing within the five senses, as we talked about, and trying to find those cultural cues to fit into the day-to-day.

So, for example, in Indonesia they have these small stalls on the side of the road or in the cities, and that's where you can purchase food — it's kind of like their version of fast food in a way, they have fast food, but it's just very quick serving, you sit down, you eat, and then you go. And for me there was a little bit of a knowledge curve there, because, for example, ordering the fried chicken and white rice dish with sambal for the sauces, you would often just go up and order, and then you wash your hands after you order and before you eat, because — another one from observing surroundings — this dish is eaten with your hands. So one of the clearly obvious things that showed I was a tourist was, after ordering, I went to pay, and they were like, why are you paying after you order? I was like, what do you mean? As an American, you always pay after you order your food, so people don't steal. No, this one was: you order your food, you get your food, you eat your food, and then you pay before you go. I was like, wow, that's a lot of trust — but I love this. So I got my food, I started eating, and they had asked if I wanted a fork, but I had already observed the cultural surroundings of how the locals were eating, and I knew this was something you eat with your hands, so I turned it down — I was like, I'm going to try this, I'm going to immerse into the culture of eating this dish, and I gave it an opportunity, and I did eat it with my hands. After that, then you wash your hands, and then you pay. So that was an example of how I really took a moment to scan, observe the surroundings of the locals, and then eat the dish. The point is that you're observing with your senses, slowing down instead of jumping right into it, and then proceeding with more care, more open-mindedness, more knowledge about the situation.

This also goes into the side of communication — not just language, but also nonverbal cues, how you present yourself, and the social norms that come with it. Some cultures stand very openly when you do conversation, because that means you're open to hearing them and understanding, whereas if you have your arms crossed, your shoulders kind of in more, that could be interpreted as someone who is not open to a conversation — I'm sure pretty much most people would agree that you're angry or upset with the other person, that's a nonverbal cue. Pacing can be considered rude in some cultures, maybe even how close you stand — again, back to Americans, they stand with a decent amount of space between them when talking, whereas in some cultures you stand closer together, and that's sometimes culture shock for people — they're like, why are you getting so close and in my space? But that's just how they converse. So being open and observing this before putting any judgment — we try to avoid judgment, but I feel in some certain situations we're quick to jump into it. Just pausing so you can avoid that jump is going to make your experience a lot better. And this all leads into cultural humility that comes with those observations, because you're being more open-minded and more humble with your participation and observation in those cultures, and that's ultimately going to improve your experience by a hundredfold, and it's also going to create more enriching, memorable memories and experiences.

The more you practice this kind of mindful presence abroad, the more you're going to begin to realize it actually changes how you live at home as well — and this isn't just about preventing misunderstandings while traveling, it's also going to help open up your world at home. So how does it make you more observant in your everyday life? This is something I honestly have reflected on as well, because it's made me more observant as a person, and I now pay attention more to my surroundings and tune in more to my senses. So for example, when I travel, I try to walk more than taking transportation, public transportation, etc. Why? Because this gives me more opportunity to look at the environment around me, to notice how people act in the environment, what there is to potentially do, to see. There's a lot of small nuances in that — ranging from architecture, how people cross the street, is there sidewalks, are there people who stand closer together, are people waiting in certain areas for bus stops, things like that.

And another thing I've adopted is not wearing headphones, and I feel like this has become such a thing, especially with younger generations — again going back to creating your own bubble — is we wear headphones for everything, even sometimes when we're conversing with other people. I've noticed this in my office, and then also with some friends — they always have an AirPod in, and I'm like, why, we're literally talking right now. So what I've done, especially when it comes to travel, is I take my headphones off, and even in public transportation, walking around, you won't see me with any headphones on. Why? Because I want to hear the sounds, tune into that sense of the environment I'm in, hear the linguistic and language diversity, and hear how people converse. This helps you engage more deeply, not just for travel, but also in your own environment. And it's not just a safety thing — it really opens up your eyes and gives your brain a moment to relax, because you're not focusing on the music or texting or whatever, you're giving yourself space to relax and just be with your own thoughts and observations.

And honestly, those are just two examples I feel are super easy to replicate, but by noticing these small cues you're able to pull them into your daily life and your own conversations with people, and it builds up your skill set of being more observant. This ties into an overarching theme of, travel isn't where you are, it's how you see it — and I do believe that's very true, because going back to creating cookie-cutter travel experiences, your own bubble when you're in your guided tours 24/7, again, not tuning into your senses, you're coming out with a superficial idea about where you visit and what you experience. But by taking the time to observe and engage those senses, you're going to observe more and see more of the travel you're in, and it's not only going to open up your mind, it's going to create more joy and gratitude for the experience and the destination you're in.

So how does this skill improve relations, communication, and maybe empathy? Again, it builds up that skill set of listening more, seeing more, and challenging your brain to connect these small cues and observations into the bigger picture and idea. So by taking the time to observe the environment I'm walking in, I'm noticing different opportunities, I'm seeing more people, I'm seeing how they converse and what's going on around me, and I may be able to pull that information into the next time I speak with someone, or I observe how someone's talking in the office place and how they stand, and maybe how they receive someone who's slouched over, and then applying that to how I present myself when speaking with that person later. It's just tying in everything to being more connected and to build deeper relationships or intimacy with a situation.

So this is something, talking about my previous episode in terms of existing in the middle — when you have these observations and the context from all this travel, especially if you've lived as an expat or abroad, you start to see things differently after a trip, and this is where you can get reverse culture shock or culture shock, because you're now more observant, you have more information, but it can be a little bit more difficult to adjust when you're going back into your home environment. But it also helps you grow and see your home maybe differently, and that can be a good thing or a bad thing, but it's tying all together to your habits and how you see the world changing because of this deeper, more enriching experience.

So if you're planning your next trip, or maybe you're dreaming about one, maybe starting to think about 2026, here's a reminder about how to become a better observer. I gave some already — taking the headphones off, putting the phone down, I've said this multiple episodes now, just put the phone down, just go have human conversations and observations with your environment. There's so much to be gained by putting the phone down and electronics, and just really taking a step back and tuning into your senses. This is not just for travel, this is just for you as a human being — just trust me, put it down once in a while and you will see the world in a whole new light. Walking at half the speed of a New Yorker — I'm guilty of this, we like to run from place A to B, take the time to frolic through the field and just dilly-dally along the way. My colleagues and I used to make so many jokes about this, but it allows you to create more opportunities for spontaneous adventures, but also to observe your surroundings more. A big one as well: ask questions, but consider being more of the listener when talking with locals — so just seeking information and hearing people, rather than being the one to dominate the conversation. And then also tune into those senses again, to watch for patterns in local behavior and whatever situation or environment you're in.

Lastly, get lost — I mean that in the best way possible. Be okay to step into an area off the path, of course with safety, always being aware, but get lost and try to find your way to the next destination. One of my friends was very interestingly trying this experiment out — every week he would give himself a destination theme he wants to get to, and he has to find his way to it by either asking people for directions along the way, or just trying to wander and find it himself. So one week he was trying to find ice cream parlors, so he would ask people along the way for recommendations, or how to get to the spot, and that's how he would get to his ice cream parlor for the week. I guess it's really cool, and it's something different — it can be intimidating for people, because it does involve conversation. But the overarching theme there is that you're getting yourself a little bit lost and trying something beyond your day-to-day path.

So that was a lot to take in, but the main thing, if you take anything from this episode, is two things: one, put the phone down, okay, generally it's going to help you a lot in the long term. Secondly, tune into those senses, really take a step back and see the environment you're in before jumping into action and immersing into it. This will help you a lot in your travels for those deeper, more enriched experiences, but also as developing the skill as a human being that will ultimately go into all different aspects of your life.

So thank you for listening to this episode of Put the Guidebook Down. Meaningful travel doesn't start when you land in a new place. It starts when you choose to pay attention. The world is becoming more and more beautiful and more complex every day — I like to think it's becoming more human, because of our ability to travel and make those different connections, but I feel that technology is challenging that a little bit, so that's why I'm always so insistent on trying to have people step away from the technology and immerse, slow down, and notice the small things on your travel, but also in your day-to-day. So wherever you go next, whether it's across the world or across town, give yourself permission to truly see the environment, the people, the way you are within the space. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love if you left a rating, but maybe just share it with a friend, or give me a message to tell me about a moment of how observation or noticing really stuck with you or improved your travel experience. And as always, put the guidebook down and let curiosity lead you. Be sure to engage with Kultura Travel's website and follow us on social media. Thank you so much, everyone. Bye.