Have you ever taken a photo of a beautiful view, like a vivid sunset, and examined the picture later only to find that it doesn’t effectively capture the beauty of the view? Perhaps the colors don’t pop the same way on an iPhone that they did in person. I always feel disappointed when I can’t fully convey the visual to somebody else. Travel can be very similar to this, in that some experiences must be had first hand to be truly understood.

An example of this in my adventures is my visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It was the first stop on my trip around China. My guide was a young, pleasant Chinese woman who had proved herself to be extremely knowledgeable and informative on the first day of our visit. However, as insightful as she’d been prior, she very pointedly omitted some major details regarding the Square’s history as we strolled about. In an infamously unjust tragedy on June 4^th, 1989, the Chinese government responded to a peaceful student-led pro-democracy protest in Tiananmen Square by sending armed troops and tanks, which resulted in an estimated several hundred civilian deaths and thousands more injured. You’d think that such a significant historical event would be front and center in a guided tour of the Square, but when asked directly she opted to deflect by discussing just its architectural features, specifically the giant portraits of Mao Zedong, instead. An event that I took to be an undeniable fact and point of important conversation is strictly unspeakable for Chinese citizens.

Down south, off the east coast of Argentina, the Falkland Islands are home to only about five thousand people and more rockhopper penguins than you can count. Despite their sparse population, the islands were source to great controversy when the British territory was invaded by the Argentine military in 1982. The invasion spanned ten weeks, and less than one thousand people were killed, only three civilians. One may think that forty years later this conflict would be water under the bridge between the two nations, but that’s surprisingly untrue. Argentina and the United Kingdom still disagree over the ownership of the Falklands Islands, and it remains a hot button issue. Although I was there but a short while and I never initiated the conversation, both sides drew me into passionate discussions about the war. I don’t think the rest of the world appreciates the depth of emotion and animosity.

Sometimes, a retelling just isn’t as powerful as it ought to be. That dull iPhone picture of the sunset won’t do the brilliant image in your memory justice. A great trip will challenge your preconceived notions. Often times with great travel, you have to be there to get it.