"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends"

Maya Angelou’s words suggest that while travel may not be a magic cure for bigotry, it does have the power to change individuals by exposing them to the shared humanity found across cultures. Traveling brings people face-to-face with the everyday realities of others: their laughter, their sorrow, their routines, their concerns, and ultimately, their mortality. Through this exposure, the differences that seem to divide us become less significant than the emotions and experiences we all share.

Angelou acknowledges the persistence of prejudice, implying that simply going to new places isn’t enough to eradicate deep-seated biases. Yet, encountering the universal aspects of life, such as eating, worrying, or dying, has a humanizing effect. Someone who has seen another culture’s joys and struggles is more likely to recognize their own reflection in those experiences. The unfamiliar becomes familiar by virtue of empathy, and the ‘other’ ceases to be a caricature or a stranger.

The heart of her message lies in the hopeful prospect that understanding can develop from empathy, and that friendship can grow from understanding. By intentionally seeking to understand those different from ourselves, restrictions imposed by prejudice loosen. Traveling isn’t just about sightseeing; it’s about engaging, observing, and feeling life from another’s vantage point. When we share laughter or witness grief, we participate in the collective tapestry of what it means to be human.

Angelou’s insight rests on the belief that friendship requires effort and open-mindedness. Travel invites us to make that effort, to approach difference not with suspicion but with curiosity and compassion. The friendships that might bloom are not merely individual accomplishments but small acts of resistance against bigotry in the world. Even though travel does not eliminate prejudice, it sows seeds that can, over time, reshape perspectives and bring people together.