Cover image of The Observer Effect

The Observer Effect

These are strangers' travel stories. Each time I ask how travel has changed them and hope listening like this evaporates borders.

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136 Exposure Therapy—Sulawesi, Where Rachel Was a Fellow

136 Exposure Therapy—Sulawesi, Where Rachel Was a Fellow

Rachel was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Sulawesi. She embraced challenges like ... Read more

23 Jan 2022

1hr 1min

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135 So Much More Than One Thing—Mauritius, Where Armen Was a Fellow

135 So Much More Than One Thing—Mauritius, Where Armen Was a Fellow

Armen was a Fellow with the U.S. State Department’s English Language Program in Mauritius. I asked how the experience ch... Read more

15 Jan 2022

38mins

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134 Moral Injury—Afghanistan, Where Joan Got a Text

134 Moral Injury—Afghanistan, Where Joan Got a Text

Joan took part in this past August’s “Digital Dunkirk,” the frantic effort to help Afghans escape the Taliban when the U... Read more

8 Jan 2022

44mins

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133 All Very Hush Hush—Yemen, Where Aziza Wants to Help People Die

133 All Very Hush Hush—Yemen, Where Aziza Wants to Help People Die

Aziza told me the religious police arrested her and her fiancé in Saudi Arabia. The interrogator asked, “Did you hit the... Read more

20 May 2020

37mins

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132 Love Is Stronger Than Death—Benin, Where Jean Reconnected

132 Love Is Stronger Than Death—Benin, Where Jean Reconnected

Jean was readier to answer my questions—as if he had somehow prepared—than anyone I have interviewed in the course of th... Read more

19 Apr 2020

42mins

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131 La Direction de la Vie—Paris, Where Étienne Considered Suicide

131 La Direction de la Vie—Paris, Where Étienne Considered Suicide

Étienne has decorated his entire Paris apartment with paraphernalia from The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s c... Read more

10 Apr 2020

1hr 15mins

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130 Black Doesn't Speak—Paris, Where Caracola Clowns

130 Black Doesn't Speak—Paris, Where Caracola Clowns

Caracola left Buenos Aires at 19 to study anthropology in Paris but soon realized her calling is to be a clown. She has ... Read more

3 Apr 2020

22mins

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129 Al-Amin—The Bronx, Where Mohibul Trusted

129 Al-Amin—The Bronx, Where Mohibul Trusted

Mohibul runs the restaurant his father established when he moved from Bangladesh to London. They named it Al-Amin, which... Read more

28 Mar 2020

34mins

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128 Belonging—Mostar, Where Anja Is Writing a Bible

128 Belonging—Mostar, Where Anja Is Writing a Bible

Anja left Bosnia as a toddler and lives there now to reconnect with her roots. I asked if she has found herself in her j... Read more

27 Feb 2020

48mins

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127 The Beauty of Sorrow—Zipolite, Where Indra Drowned

127 The Beauty of Sorrow—Zipolite, Where Indra Drowned

Indra broke up with his girlfriend in Turkey just months into traveling the world together and set off the series of eve... Read more

20 Feb 2020

59mins

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