Travelling to live in another place, another culture.

Are you itching to get on a plane and see the world again? I know when my hubby booked our first international flights post-COVID, something settled within me because I love to travel.

Travel opens our eyes.

It opens our hearts.

It opens our minds.

I know that moving this Melbourne gal to Hanoi in Vietnam changed me profoundly. Eight years later, I returned to the same street and house with the same family, but everything was different.

I was different, and that change led me to create For Dignity.

Let's dig a little deeper. 

A genuine impact it had was I learnt a new language. A people's language opens the door to their way of life, thinking and, of course, the richness of relationships. 

It did not come easy. I remember we would have people ride their bicycles around the neighbourhood, calling out selling their baguettes or asking us to collect our recyclable rubbish. In the first few months, I could not count the times I thought I could buy lunch and walk outside to be greeted by a seller on a bike laden with plastic bottles and cardboard. 

Over time I became a relatively mediocre Vietnamese speaker, but I did learn to appreciate the process. It opened my mind.

Okay, enough for now about my language learning (or not learning).

Can you relate to a trip that has shifted your perspective on life, people or culture?

How is that influencing the way your live life now?

Our sixth birthday is just around the corner, and boy, it's been quite the rollercoaster ride of ups and downs running a small business, from the excitement of a startup to the reality checks of COVID. When things get tough, I return to why I hung up the stethoscope and ventured into the wild world of social enterprise. 

Over the next few months of blogs, I invite you into the backstory of For Dignity.