5 Lessons I Learned From Traveling to the Remote Edges of the Earth

Penguins in Antarctica and matriarchs in the Gobi Desert can teach us surprising lessons about resilience, kindness, and perspective.

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Time was ticking as the hot desert sun beat a hasty retreat toward the horizon. Already rusty, the sand and stones all around me seemed to glow in the soft, golden, late-day light. It was an otherworldly, strangely beautiful scene. But it was starting to look a little doubtful that I would find any dinosaurs at all.

Earlier in the week, I’d landed at a tiny airstrip and loaded into a Land Cruiser that immediately took the route off-road. As it left a long tail of dust behind us, I looked over at the dunes and wondered whether any leopards lurked behind them. Probably not.

The buildings of Three Camel Lodge appeared on the horizon like a mirage. They were a cluster of round structures modeled on the mobile tents that local nomads have used for thousands of years. Soon enough, the hunt for the prehistoric would commence.

I was at the Flaming Cliffs in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. During the Late Cretaceous period, 80 million years ago, this area—then an inland sea—burst with life. In the 1920s, archeologists and paleontologists made an almost mind-boggling find of bones and fossils, and quickly packed their treasures onto the backs of camels. It was one of paleontology’s greatest discoveries of all time.

Prehistoric items continue to surface today, but not on the particular afternoon of my visit. Still, I was content to settle for a glass of wine and an unbelievable sunset.

Throughout my career as a travel writer, I’ve been especially compelled by the remotest places on earth. I’ve seen the snows of the High Arctic and Antarctica and the vast expanses of the Australian Outback, the Sahara, and the Polar Ice Cap. And, of course, Mongolia’s seemingly endless South Gobi Desert.

Perhaps it’s the feeling of being an explorer and the spirit of discovery. Needless to say, it’s been instructive. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from the edges of the earth.

Inhospitable Places Are Especially Warm and Welcoming (and You Should Be, Too)

I’ve heard it explained this way: In rich, affluent places where the living is easy, you don’t really need your neighbors. But in parts of the world where scarcity and difficulty are common, you need all the help you can get. Your neighbor will provide you with aid today, knowing that they might need you tomorrow.

Which is perhaps why I have found that the further you get from super-developed spaces, the friendlier folks can be.

I learned this in the South Gobi. During our excursions out into the desert, sometimes in search of dinosaur bones, we passed lines of gers—nomadic tents—and I asked my guide if we could see inside.

When I visited the first one, it was hard to imagine meeting someone with a life more different than my own. The matriarch welcomed us in. Her horse-farming family had, for generations, followed the seasons and the green pastures. We sat, and she served fermented camel’s milk and then—a true delicacy—a sort of homemade vodka.

We traded stories, with my guide translating. The woman was proud of her family and her home, which was tidy and lovely, if not luxurious. It was a day I’ll never forget. Since meeting her, I’ve tried to always be kind, patient, and warm with visitors, even those just asking for directions on the street.

The Earth Is So Much Bigger Than You Can Imagine

I think it struck me the first time I sailed across the Pacific, and now every time I visit the Arctic. You can travel for days and days and never see another human soul. On the Pacific, all you see are salty horizons from the deck of the ship. And in the Arctic, all you see are craggy and barren—and beautiful—islands inhabited by walruses and seals and polar bears.

While problems are real and sometimes serious, the lesson here is similar to gazing through a telescope at the boundless universe. Realizing that the world is so big can help you understand that perhaps your problems aren’t quite so massive as you think.

Always, Always Pack a Coat

Every destination that experiences frequent inclement conditions tells the same two jokes.

The first one: We can have all four seasons in a single day.

The second joke: If you don’t like the weather, wait around for five minutes.

And you know what? It’s true. I have a warm-ish coat made for travel. It rolls and zips into its own pocket, packs as a squishy pouch, and never leaves my suitcase. It has come in handy so many times, even when the forecast was only for sunny skies and warm breezes.

Never Give Up

Phyllis Kosminsky/Unsplash

Penguins are adorable. It doesn’t matter which type—Adélies, gentoos, chinstraps, rockhoppers, kings, or emperors. It’s easy to swoon at their cuteness, their off-kilter waddling, and childlike curiosity, and to look past their resilience and strength.

These animals live in an environment that is not only forbidding but also hostile. Some of them migrate for thousands of miles to their breeding colonies. Skuas, the bad-guy birds of Antarctica, try and steal their eggs. And it is a truly remarkable thing to watch a penguin scale a cliff to find a good place to lay their eggs. They’re excellent swimmers, an animal surely built for the water, but they’re awkward on land.

This toughness has taught me that I can climb cliffs, too—even if they’re metaphorical.

Embrace the Spirit of Discovery

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In the polar regions, you often feel like you’re sailing off the map. Some adventurers, like Ernest Shackleton, really did. His unquenchable inquisitiveness fueled four separate Antarctic expeditions during a time when such voyages were cold, lonely, and dangerous.

Shackleton once said that explorers need to possess optimism, patience, imagination, and courage. These are qualities you can display in your everyday life. And, like Shackleton, never stop being curious—even if it’s just a matter of checking out an area of town you’ve never visited.

Whether it’s your own backyard or beyond: Keep exploring, no matter what.

Three Quick Travel Tips for Visiting Remote Places

Know Where You’re Going

You might not have mobile service or access to maps and other helpful tools, so make sure you’re well prepared. You should know where you’re going and how to get back before you go out the door.

Trust Local Knowledge

If someone tells you a storm is coming and to prepare, or to avoid a certain area or activity—whatever it may be—heed their advice. Their knowledge is often rooted in generations of experience.

Never Miss an Opportunity

In places with limited facilities, doing practical things like eating, sleeping, and using the restroom can be hard. So do all these things whenever you have the chance and it makes sense to do so.