🌍 Be a Traveler, Not Just a Tourist, No Matter Where You Are

By Daniela Reggiori | July 28th 2025

When we think of “travelers,” we often imagine people crossing oceans, collecting passport stamps, or posing in front of landmarks. But being a traveler has less to do with distance and more to do with intention. It’s a mindset — one of openness, humility, and genuine engagement. And you can carry that mindset whether you’re in your own country or somewhere completely new.

This summer, I’ve been working as a program coordinator in the Dominican Republic, alongside a Dominican colleague, guiding groups of high school students from the U.S. They come here not just to see, but to learn, to listen, and to connect. Every day is filled with community visits, reflections, and hands-on projects with local communities. It’s transformational — not only for them, but for us.

Although I’m from Argentina and my co-coordinator is Dominican, this job has allowed us to rediscover our own roots. As someone once said, “The more you know another country, the more you understand your own.” I’ve felt this deeply. Every time I share a meal with a family here, every time I hear students reflect on privilege, culture, or sustainability, I realize how much I’m also learning about myself, about Latin America, and about the kind of tourism the world needs.

Because what we do here isn’t just tourism. It’s something much more alive, more human. It’s the kind of travel that leaves a mark on your soul.

I’ve been traveling, working, and living in different parts of the world for almost nine years. I’ve experienced many cultures, landscapes, and communities. But this journey has impacted me in a completely different way. For the first time, I felt the transformation not only in myself, but in others — in the younger generation. These students, who are the future, are being introduced to a new way of traveling: one that is sustainable, responsible, and rooted in empathy.

I deeply believe in this program. I believe these students will grow into the kind of leaders the world needs. Leaders who understand that traveling isn’t just about seeing places, but about engaging with people. They are learning how to integrate with local communities, to plan with them and not for them. They see that equity matters. That the balance must begin to shift.

This experience has been one of the most challenging and beautiful things I’ve ever done. I never thought I would become friends with 17-year-olds — and yet, here I am, their cool aunt, dancing to bachata, playing cards, listening to their worries, cheering them on. And they trust us, because we are not just coordinators. We are their guides, their friends, their temporary parents, their confidants, and sometimes even their therapists.

This job pushes your limits. Thanks to my tourism studies, I know what a guide should be. But here, you become so much more. For many of them, this is their first time away from home, their first time on a plane, or in another country. And you’re there for all of it — the joy, the anxiety, the discomfort, the discovery. They challenge your patience, make you laugh, cry, reflect — and they inspire you to be better, just as you do for them.

The Dominican Republic, with all its complexity — its colonial legacy, political changes, and communities fighting to thrive — becomes a mirror. We visit the country’s first ecotourism project, where everyone feels like family. We meet leaders of different NGOs that work to support their communities — whether through helping in the bateyes, providing healthcare and education to both Dominicans and immigrants, building homes, pouring cement floors, renovating schools, and much more. And through every encounter, we don’t just learn about community — we feel it.

And then the hardest part comes: saying goodbye. On the final day, we gather for one last reflection. We all cry — and when I say all, I mean everyone, not just the students. Because we’ve lived something real together. The hug at the airport isn’t just a farewell — it’s a moment of gratitude for people who didn’t exist in our lives just 11 days ago, and who now hold a piece of our hearts.

According to them, what students take home after this amazing experience is an open mind to the realities of the world, a deeper appreciation for their families and everything they once took for granted, a sense of community many had never felt before, the ability to be present— without phones or distractions — a more respectful relationship with natural resources, and the understanding that while we may not change the whole world, we can change someone’s world — with kindness, empathy, respect, and love.

This kind of travel is not a break from life — it’s a deeper immersion into it. It’s a break from everything we think we know — from comfort zones, from consumerism, from the illusion that travel is just about us. It’s the seed of a new kind of tourism — one that heals, connects, and transforms.

So here’s my invitation:

Be a traveler. Be present. Be curious. Choose depth over distance.

Whether you're crossing borders or exploring your own neighborhood, choose the kind of journey that leaves something better behind — and brings something better home with you.

We don’t need more tourists.

We need more travelers.

And maybe, just maybe… we need you.