When small talk gives way to deeper conversations, a world of thoughtful insight reveals itself. Penetrating through questions about where one works and lives, opportunities to know someone more deeply start with simple, but profound, questions.  

“What travel destination changed the course of your life?”  

Nine paltry words strung together with a real chance to know someone. At the best dinner parties or conversations over drinks at a bar, questions such as this have been served. It is one of my favorite questions to answer and it is something I am always happy to investigate in a new way.  

Traveling to Rio de Janeiro changed my life. I was 29 years old, straight out of graduate school, and eager to explore the world. For a while, an internal shift was occurring inside of my mind. I wanted a life less focused on collecting things. Instead, I desired something more. I wanted a life centered on the collecting of experiences. With this new mindset, travel provided the perfect vehicle.  

In celebration of completing graduate school, I considered Sydney and then Athens before deciding on Rio. The city attracted me for countless reasons: culture, beaches, landscape, people, and Rio’s place in the global conversation.  

Rio also presented an opportunity to test myself. Two years before my toes felt the sands of Ipanema and Copacabana, I moved across the country from Oklahoma City to Seattle. I documented my move well, but I should note that a desperate need to reset my life motivated me. Alone in a new city, I craved authenticity. I needed to find a new standard of confidence, trust, and belief.  

Sitting on the beach that first day, staring at the Atlantic Ocean, pride swept over me. I was in a foreign country all alone. I didn’t speak the language. There was no one who could come to my immediate rescue if things went sideways. I had to depend solely on myself. A younger version of me would have never attempted such a thing. That version of Nathan wouldn’t have gone to the movies alone, much less a foreign country, but there I sat as living proof that change is possible.  

Sitting there took every ounce of bravery I possessed. The trip was not without trials and tribulations. There were complications and things lost in translation. Rio tested me in unimaginable ways, but it also marked a spectacular triumph. It was a trip I will never forget and something I will always relish.  

Rio changed my life for the better. It made me more curious, and it made me want to continue exploring this world of ours. Now, everywhere I roam, I hope fresh revelations abound.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan