​​Meet the Author: How Travel Became the Most Honest Education of My Life

Five Years Ago, I Would’ve Laughed…

If you asked me five years ago where I’d be now, I would’ve laughed. Not because I doubted myself, but because I hadn’t yet met the version of me who could dream this big.

Today, my passport has more stamps than I ever imagined. But what I travel for isn’t stamps. I travel for lessons.

I travel to grow, to connect, and to remind others that travel isn’t just for the privileged — it’s for anyone willing to take that first step.

Getting a Job in the US Was Nearly Impossible

My name is Ricardo Dollero. I studied Anthropology at UCLA and left the country after realizing that getting a job in the U.S. was nearly impossible. Like I stated in my previous blog, it wasn’t that I didn’t have the skills — it was that I didn’t have the connections, or the privilege.

Every mile I’ve traveled, and every country I’ve stepped into, has been less about escape and more about becoming someone new.

Most of my journeys have been on a budget, and that alone has taught me that the richness of travel isn’t about luxury — it’s about mindset.

This blog is my story. But more importantly, I hope it helps you start writing yours.

UCLA Was Great. Traveling Was Better.

Even after going to UCLA — the most applied-to university in the world, with over 170,000 applicants a year — I still say the best education I’ve ever received came from traveling to different countries.

At the age of 24, I’ve traveled to more than 30 countries on all continents except Antarctica. Every one of those countries has left something with me, a lesson and a new way of seeing the world.

Studying Anthropology helped me understand how cultures are shaped. But it was through traveling that I truly saw how people live, connect, and carry their stories.

Where I Come From

I was born in sunny San Diego, California, to two immigrant parents. My father is from Mexico and my mother from Colombia. My values are built on family, getting far in life, and treating others with utmost respect in every situation.

Throughout life, I’ve had many inspiring people tell me to travel and to get out of my comfort zone. But the one person I'd like to thank as my biggest inspiration is my father. He started traveling at around the age of 20, with no money and only a passion to explore the world. Through finding scholarships, budgeting and a lot of struggling, he had already lived in three different countries and had visited 50 in total, before I was even born.

To me, he is my biggest inspiration — the one who still continues to tell me to explore the world, even with the absence of my mother. Through him, I learned that traveling should always be a priority if you want to live a full life and have well-roundedness. He taught me that isolation and ignorance are the key to failure, so never stay in the same place. Despite those lessons, he also taught us that we should keep family first — which is my greatest weakness. Something that many struggle with when trying to take that first step to travel the world.

Balancing Culture and Curiosity

As a Latino born in the United States, family is a priority. How does one travel the world and at the same time stick to the moral values that were imprinted on you through your culture and traditions?

To that, I say: one must adapt.

Visiting countries doesn’t just show you how different we are from each other — it teaches you lessons about your own values. For one to understand this, you must travel. You must be put into situations that make you feel culture shock and discomfort. At times, the more out of place you feel, the more you understand how different and unique we are from one another — and this feeling makes you feel free. It allows you to question and reflect on your own values and reform your own moral to one you truly stand for.

Yes, I Miss Home

I constantly feel the urge to stay connected with my family and friends. I still get homesick. Sometimes I even feel like going back home because of how much I miss them. Its all natural to feel.

But traveling gives you a sense of understanding and growth strong enough to make that sacrifice worth it. It may sound harsh, but Leaving your comfort zone is the best way to find self growth and discover your true self. The earth is too big to only see one country or to live in one city. What seems impossible now, might become a reality with just a change in mentality and a few small steps in the right direction.

Your First Step Will Change Everything

I grew up with a family of travelers. But for many of you, that might not be the case. It’s hard to take that first leap, to buy that first ticket, or to even imagine leaving the place you call home. I know it from experience.

I’m telling you now — it’s a decision worth making.

If no one around you has done it, maybe you’re meant to be the first.

Even with a top-quality education, I can say with complete honesty that college will never compare to how much I’ve learned and how much self-growth I’ve gained through traveling.

Don’t even get me started on the lifelong friends and connections I’ve made along the way.

Without traveling, I would not be complete. My life would be different, and my self-worth would not exist in the way it does now.