LaShonda Herndon on How Travel Fuels Innovation and Empathy in Everyday Life

In an airport, it might look like a blur of moving people with their screens on, coffee cups in their hands, and bags rolling in all directions. But there’s something more powerful going on beneath all that steady noise. Every time someone leaves or comes in, it quietly tells us of a simple truth: being exposed changes everything. We understand better when we see more. And the more we learn, the better we get at everything: traveling, thinking, making things, and being a leader.

For LaShonda Herndon of Raleigh NC, travel has never been just about checking destinations off a map. It’s about experience, new learnings, and a fresh perspective. As someone who has spent years balancing the demands of scientific precision with the curiosity that drives discovery, she often draws parallels between travel and innovation. Both require an openness to explore the unknown, an ability to adapt quickly, and an awareness that growth doesn’t happen in comfort zones.

Travel as an Education Without the Classroom

There’s something profoundly humbling about being a stranger in a new place. You learn quickly that the world operates on different rhythms – that what feels routine in one country can feel extraordinary in another. Whether it’s navigating a bustling market in Marrakech or catching a quiet sunrise in the Carolinas, travel expands our sense of observation.

Being able to watch without judging is what makes people creative and good at solving problems in any field. LaShonda Herndon says that travel teaches the same lessons that lead to new ideas in business and science: listen before you react, adapt before you fight, and look beyond what you see.

The best ideas rarely come from sitting still. They come from connecting patterns, noticing details others overlook, and translating experiences into new approaches. Travel cultivates that mental flexibility. It encourages you to think laterally – to see beyond your own framework and appreciate that there are multiple solutions to the same challenge.

Empathy: The Quiet Outcome of Exploration

If traveling makes you curious, then it makes you more empathetic. When you visit a new place, eat local food, or hear stories from a different culture, you can’t help but notice how the human experience is both very different and surprisingly similar.

LaShonda Herndon often reflects on how travel redefines empathy – not as an abstract moral value, but as a lived skill. Let’s take an example here, if you ever find yourself standing in a crowded train station in Tokyo or sharing a table with strangers in Lisbon, you will notice how humanity and connection is universal, regardless of the place. You realize how deeply people care about the same things: family, health, hope, and opportunity.

This new knowledge changes how you deal with coworkers, clients, and even yourself. When people have empathy, they can lead better, communicate more clearly, and work together more meaningfully. It helps you remember that listening is the first step in every professional connection and every journey.

The Innovation Hidden in Discomfort

It’s funny how safety can stop you from being creative. Even though we like order, most personal and professional breakthroughs happen when things are shaken up. Traveling teaches you things that you can’t plan for, like missed turns, delayed flights, and lost luggage. Each one tests your patience, adaptability, and toughness, which are exactly the traits that make someone an inventor or a problem-solver.

For professionals like LaShonda Herndon of Raleigh NC, who operate in environments where accuracy and precision are paramount, travel provides a contrasting kind of education: one that celebrates uncertainty. The unpredictability of travel forces quick thinking and calm under pressure, both of which are invaluable in high-stakes work settings.

Discomfort makes you more flexible. It helps us remember that growth isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about keeping calm when you don’t.

The Balance Between Observation and Action

Knowing when to stop is one of the most important things you can learn from traveling. Travel teaches stillness, or the practice of observation, in a world that is obsessed with getting things done quickly and well. When we stand still in front of a statue that is hundreds of years old or watch local artists work, we are reminded that time isn’t always something we need to “manage.” There are times when you should respect it.

LaShonda Herndon often connects this mindset to her professional world, where process and patience can determine the difference between success and error. Seeing how a city breathes – the speed, the pauses, and the unsaid rules, is a good way to think about how important it is to understand systems before trying to make them better. Great inventions, like great trips, start with watching before they change.

Every time you walk through a new city, share a meal with someone from a different background, or navigate a challenge far from home, you’re not just expanding your worldview, you’re refining the very mindset that drives progress.