Lisa Fiala

I graduated college not really knowing what I wanted to do, except that I wanted to help people and I wanted it to involve the world beyond my own backyard. I decided to join the Peace Corps, and while researching, I stumbled across a girl’s website — she was a volunteer in Bulgaria — and something about it stopped me cold. I called my placement officer and asked if there was anything available there. There was. That one conversation changed everything.

Bulgaria was the first place I ever lived abroad, and it wrecked me in the best way. I learned what it means to actually be somewhere — not to visit, but to stay long enough that you notice the things nobody tells you about. The way people treat each other in line at the market. The conversations that happen over food that would never happen anywhere else. The small, unspoken things that tell you more about a place than any guidebook ever could.

That’s how I travel everywhere now. I find where locals eat and where they spend Sunday afternoons. I try to use the language, even badly. I listen more than I talk. I’ve done this in more than 40 countries — living in five of them — and it has shaped everything I do, from the programs I design to the way I write about the places I go.

Globe Explored exists because I believe that kind of travel is learnable. You don’t have to be a development professional or a Peace Corps volunteer to move through the world with intention. You just have to be willing to slow down and pay attention.

Peace Corps Volunteer

Two-Time Fulbright Awardee

40+ Countries

International Development Consultant

Experiential Learning Designer