Breaking Boundaries and Building Empathy

Lessons from a Life-Changing Trip

The First Time I Traveled to the Middle East

"Our battered suitcases piled on the sidewalk; again, we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life" - Jack Kerouac

In the summer of 2022, having just completed my studies as a young chef, I found myself still working in a restaurant with no plans for summer vacation. However, I heard that a couple of my friends were embarking on an extraordinary trip from Europe to the heart of the Middle East, passing through Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. While everyone else was hurrying to find one last spot on the overcrowded Mediterranean coast or attending the latest hit party, these guys wanted to venture to the middle of nowhere, just to discover our planet and humanity. I felt deeply identified with this feeling of going to explore and share experiences in the most remote and unknown places, and I too wanted to know how it felt to live in another reality. Watching jaw-dropping documentaries and reading diaries of audacious adventurers always ready to take a leap into the unknown, making friends in every corner, and sharing unique interactions with strangers, made me yearn for this kind of adventure. As life often works out in strange ways, I was miraculously given a month of summer vacation from my internship in a gastronomic restaurant in Lyon. That same night, after my late night dinner shift, I bought my ticket to the city of Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Over the next three weeks, we met twice a week late at night, after work or school, to plan the full itinerary of the trip. Of course, the bare minimum of planning was done, and most of the plan consisted of "we'll see when we get there." But at least we had a rough timeline to follow, and what was really amazing was that every meeting made us more and more excited. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, finally exploring the world. Even before stepping on the plane, the thrill was imminent, and the possibilities infinite - life was once again a grand adventure.

Each one of us, a group of four friends from Lyon, made our way to Jordan, meeting up on a hot afternoon in a cheap hostel room on the outskirts of Amman. It was like landing on another planet - everything was slightly different, from the delivery motorbike sponsors to the colors of the buildings and their unfinished rooftops. People's faces and the smell of food - it was all familiar, but with a different essence, a different smile, and a different depth. Our adventures were countless and priceless, but what made them feel warm and fuzzy was that we had each other. We could lay our backs on each other, know we were not alone, and crack a laugh in the hardest moments. With that ever-lasting inner curiosity and enterprising momentum, we made it out of our comfort zones, sometimes pulling each other by force, but ultimately, together, to places and situations we could never have even dreamed of.

In the velvety sunset afternoon at a mountain camp in Dana, watching the sun set on the horizon and seeing the first Palestinian borderline lights spark up, I realized that this was what adventure and traveling was really about. It's not about showing off the latest and coolest hotel or party you paid to be accepted into or the luxury restaurant fine dining you can have. It's about sharing with strangers, wandering into the unknown to learn, understand, and build empathy for the rest of the world. Don’t get me wrong, treating yourself to luxury is not a bad thing, but if it is your only reason for traveling and discovering new things, maybe you are floating a little too high in your cloud. This was a turning point in my life. For the first time, I really felt the need to make something inspiring or help others, to contribute to humanity at any scale. It wasn't conceivable to me anymore that all this beauty and wonder existed in the world and I didn't add my own grain of sand. Living a life to consume with only individualistic motives made no sense at all.

Witnessing the raw world, the other side of the coin, the wonderful south taught me that life is much more complex, composed of millions of little aspects and billions of different personalities with their own struggles, most of the time much heavier than the ones I carry. This reflection left me with deep philosophical thoughts. In fact, they were quite simple and easy to conceive. I was just surprised they never came to my attention in the 22 years I had been alive as something so important: existential, until now. How many ways can I help? Why are there so many people suffering on earth and those of us in comfort forget about them as if they never existed? What does it feel like to share a joyful moment with a complete stranger? A million other questions stumbled into my mind, many of which I still don't have answers to. Maybe that's what they call mind-opening experiences. Maybe.

With this confusion of deep empathic feelings, a new chapter began in my life. One where I was not the center, but life, the universe, and the world were the centers around which revolved my aspirations and dreams. I suppose that's what growing up is all about: realizing that the most important things are those that are bigger than oneself.

Returning to Europe, I felt like I had taken a marvelous, fresh, cool shower. I had started seeing life in new colors, and the adventure was just beginning.