My mind often wanders back to a singular moment during my time abroad last year. My friend and I had just arrived in Salzburg, Austria and due to my inability to take naps (a fatal flaw in my genetic makeup, I assure you) I decided to drop my bags and head to the streets. No plan, no map (another flaw, who doesn’t bring a map when wandering a new foreign city?!), just my camera and a taste for adventure.

Within two blocks, I knew right away Salzburg was special. The place where "The Sound of Music" was filmed, (you bet your bottom dollar we hopped on a big red bus and did the movie tour) the city gleamed with old town charm, snuggled at the base of the Alps.

But this moment, of being exposed to a beautiful, Austrian city is not the one I am referring to. Don’t get me wrong, it was purely wonderful; a rush of fulfilled wanderlust that I continue to crave. No, the moment I am thinking about was much more ordinary.

I turned a corner into a secluded neighborhood. Away from tourists’ flashing cameras and reaching selfie sticks, there was a small park in front of a grassy hill. The sun was low in the sky and it’s March light felt warm and delicious. It glinted off a swing set, where a little boy was squealing with joy as older man made funny faces while pushing the child back and forth.

In this moment, I was completely surprised by innate familiarity of the scene. Though I was thousands of miles from my home, unable to understand the conversations around me, I didn’t feel lost. I was a at a park, where parents took their children to play, enjoying the same sunshine I see at home. It reminded me how similar we all are.

We say different words, and maybe we worship different things. But when it comes down to it, we are all human. I enjoy traveling because it brings me to breathtaking views and history filled streets. But when I was at the little park in Salzburg, Austria, I realized there was something else I valued about exploring faraway places. By escaping the bubble I live in, I gained new perspectives that allow me to think about things in different ways. I realize each person, place and idea is built of many more layers than just the name we know it by.

Rereading what I’ve written so far, it’s easy to tell that this feeling I remember so clearly is difficult to put into words. I suppose all I can say is that traveling far and wide has given me more than I could have ever asked for. And the more I live, the more I would like to find those moments in new and exciting places under the sun.