Five life changing destinations
As the world has been thrown into chaos, many have understandably retreated into their comfort bubbles, simply overwhelmed. Over the last year I’ve had the chance to visit and learn more about several destinations that have grounded me and reminded me what is important. Read on for inspiration that could help propel all of us out of our bubbles with a jolt of moral courage. Whether you visit them in person or explore them on-line.
Here they are:
1. Montgomery, Alabama, the EJI Museum and Sculpture Park
When you enter the powerful museum created by Bryan Stevenson, the first thing you hear and then feel, is the overwhelming sense of panic as you are surrounded by huge waves crashing down in the middle of the deep ocean. This is where over two million people drowned after being kidnapped from their homes on their way to the US as slaves. In room after room of the museum, you experience the horror of slavery, culminating in an exhibition of jars that hold the sacred dirt from the places where well over 4,000 human beings were lynched. This museum and their painstaking research to understand the truth is an important step in acknowledging this brutal chapter in the United States’ history. We have an opportunity to never allow racism to exist in any form as it is a danger to all our humanity. Visit this museum and support EJI’s amazing work.
2. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan.
The horrific bombing and suffering in Pearl Harbor set off a chain reaction that should never be sparked again, the dropping of the atomic bomb. About 120,000 people perished instantly, and many others suffered from a long, slow, painful death from radiation exposure. Visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an unshakeable wake up call to the ever-present threat of nuclear war. We must do everything we can to forge peace and to support the movement to end the threat of nuclear war. Learn more about how you can engage from Global Zero and The Elders.
3. Ukraine
A long, bumpy, very loud, overnight train journey will take you from Poland to Kyiv, Ukraine. As you approach the city, you will start to experience the shock of armed ground combat, from collapsed buildings, to decimated communities, to scorched landscapes, then you will meet the people whose children were killed in a bomb strike, others who were one of the over 40,000 plus people who have lost limbs from land mines covering an area the size of Austria. It is deeply saddening that in 2025 we have over 32 conflicts in the world, with over 2 billion people suffering from man-made violence. Without global rule of law, the world order will implode. Ukrainians are on the frontlines, fighting for all of us to protect the rule of law. What an honour to stand by them and others fighting for our shared freedom. Check out Superhumans and many other great Ukrainian charities.
4. Israel & Palestine
This is one location that I did not travel to personally. The horrific, brutal, unthinkable Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, became a lightning rod that has changed our world forever. Well over 50,000 Palestinians are dead, more than 16,000 of them innocent children. Generations of families have been killed. War in any shape or form is unacceptable, this scale of human loss is inconceivable and unacceptable. Check out and support A Land for All, The Parents Circle, Project Pure Hope, and others who are taking the hard steps to bridge divides to pave a path towards peace.
5. An Execution
The death penalty is a relic from the dark ages. It is proven to not deter crime, it is more costly than a lifetime prison sentence, it prolongs the pain for the relatives of the victim’s family, and at its very worst, it executes innocent people. Visit a prison when it is carrying out an execution to experience how we are killing our fellow citizens, through a firing squad, electric chair, ineffectual drugs, and even gas chambers. Connect to great partners like Witnesses to Innocence, The Eighth Amendment Project, and RBIJ to stop this brutality.
Visiting these five destinations or learning more about them could help spark a relationship reset with each other, focusing on what unites us, rather than separates us. My life has been forever changed through each of these destinations. I’m now more determined than ever to reach across divides and commit my life to co-creating a world that we all want to run towards, together. Buckminster Fuller summed this up perfectly, “Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."
I’d encourage anyone reading this to explore these destinations and to go out and find someone who makes you feel unsettled, whose differences will challenge you to become a better human being. Commit some time and resources to the partners listed above, I can guarantee that supporting them will be life changing for you.