When I give people a list of different activities that can potentially lead to intercultural competence development, travel is one of the ones people most often choose as something that appeals to them.

Travel by itself does not necessarily lead to intercultural competence though. The reality is you can travel the world and even speak several different languages and still have little ability to truly understand or to interact positively with people from different cultural backgrounds.

So how can you make the most of travel opportunities in terms of developing intercultural competence?

One way is to read The Curious Traveler: See the World, Change Your Life by David Livermore. The book focuses on encouraging curiosity as you explore new countries and cultures. Learn to ask good questions and to reflect more deeply on your experiences in ways that will lead to greater understanding both of yourself and the other.