Travel as Transformation by Gregory V. Diehl

I relate to many of the ideas in Travel as Transformation and have experienced them firsthand while living with host families in Peru and Mexico. It aligns with a recurring theme on my nonfiction review list: avoiding the default and consciously designing your life.

Diehl explores how societal values aren’t universal truths — they’re shaped by the people within and reinforced until they become “culture.” From a young age, we absorb the beliefs, fears, and assumptions of previous generations, and over time, these quietly shape how we see the world. The longer we live with them, the harder they are to question.

Travel has a way of breaking that autopilot. Things you assumed were obvious, from greetings among friends to restaurant etiquette, suddenly aren’t. You start noticing your own biases and how much of what we “knew” came from secondhand sources. As the title suggests, travel is an opportunity to rethink who you are once those old boundaries start to fall away:

“You will feel lost for a time without a solid category to belong to. Don’t let that fool you into choosing a premature identity. There is no single way to be a traveler, an artist, a scholar, a superhero, or a philosopher. You accept other people’s definitions when you are too weak to make your own.”

I feel similarly towards reading. Another book explained that there are two ways to encounter new perspectives: firsthand, like through travel, or vicariously, through books. Even the most imaginative are grounded in real-world truths; novels like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Jungle immerse you in the lived experiences of racial injustice and labor exploitation.

Diehl’s ideas are mirrored in many other books I’ve covered on the blog. Range explains how people who take time to explore often end up with greater personal satisfaction. That clarity helps them choose jobs that truly fit, which in turn boosts motivation, productivity, and ultimately income. So even if exploration costs time and money upfront, it can lead to higher happiness and greater financial success in the long run.

The book is fairly short — about 160 pages — and doesn’t include the kinds of travel anecdotes you might expect. It’s more of a reflective essay, with little plot. To be completely honest, I wouldn’t pick it up for the writing; its value is in the ideas.

Diehl has written several books across a wide range of topics that interest him. He currently lives in Armenia, where he runs an educational NGO called The Kalavan Retreat Center.

Here’s my notes on the book.