Writer Lauren Lanning argues that immersive travel, deliberately engaging with a destination's history, food, language and people rather than sticking to standard tourist activities, does more for personal growth than conventional sightseeing.
The piece points to concrete habits that shape the experience: learning local social norms before arriving, paying attention to regional dialect differences (Catalan versus Andalusian Spanish is used as an example), and researching a place's history ahead of a visit.
Framed against the rise of 'Euro Summer' travel in 2024, the argument is that this kind of immersion builds adaptability, resilience and language awareness for travellers, while also supporting host communities economically and through genuine relationship-building rather than transactional tourism.