The stories in this section are not intended to provide information about travel destinations. They're primarily about the travelers themselves.

All travel stories tell us something about the teller, but in these pieces, the authors take the insights gained from travel and reflect on what they've learned about themselves -- hence the name.

These stories show the ways in which travel can change us. As GoNOMAD Writer Sony Stark has observed, "Nobody warns you that when you travel, your mind stretches and never returns to its original size."

Mystic Tourism: Searching for the Yagé in Peru

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand: Beauty and a Bummer

Volunteering in Zambia: 'This is the Growing'

Jaipur, India: The Monkey Business Traveler

Returning to Sierra Leone: Elemental Africa

Tipsy Pilgrims Lost in Ireland: A Rambling Fireside Story

Jordan: Lessons From the Other Holy Land

Go Somewhere, Don't Know Where: An Ex-Pat Returns to St. Petersburg

A Woman's Life in Jordan: The Joys and the Hassles

A Perfect American Fourth of July -- in Thailand

Visiting a Wounded Giant: A Journey into American

Spain: Cheering for the Bull in Valencia

Love the One You're With: How to Travel Together Without Killing Each Other

Running with Gazelles in Morocco

Loafing in Croatia: Even Travel Writers Need a Vacation

Ah, But You Are Americans, Aren't You?

Niger: A Visit to the Fortune Teller

A Brief Tour of the Holy Land

Being an American in Iran makes you the most popular kid in the village.

Rick Steves Visits Iran: "Death to Hatred and Militarism"

Cambodia: A Little Girl in a Tiny Tin Boat

Marie Javins World Tour:

GoNOMAD Transports Editor Marie Javins travels around the world using only surface transportation "by land and sea, ship, train, bus, and donkey — anything but a plane."

First Installment
Crossing the USA by Train and the Pacific by Freighter

A little girl selling soft drinks in Cambodia

Second Installment
Dilly Dallying on the Banana Pancake Trail

Third Installment
Bugs and Slugs from Siem Reap to Beijing

Fourth Installment
Crossing Siberia

Fifth Installment
Crossing Africa

Sixth Installment
From Nairobi to New York

Got a story to tell? Tell us about it.