With this book I am launching globally aware travel for the general public. I have found that travelers want to know such things as how the history of an area fits into the big historical picture, why certain people have the values and traditions that they do, how a regions’ culture and geography affect local food and customs, what are different people’s views about significant global issues, or how our own view of the world influences what we experience on our travels. Delving into these questions, and many more, is the essence of globally aware travel. Denise Ames

In my years as an educator, world historian, and traveler, I have found that many engaged and curious lifelong learners are eager to see the world with new eyes, hear fresh perspectives, learn about new ideas, and seek out authentic experiences. In response to this need, I am offering global awareness as a new focus of travel.

“Your journey lies before you and will be what you make it.” 
Denise R. Ames

About the Book

Are you often disappointed that your travels have left you wanting a more authentic and deeper experience? Do you wonder what lessons you can learn from your travels? Are you a culturally curious and engaged traveler who is seeking to enhance your awareness about the world? Are you a lifelong learner who is eager to make the world your classroom? If so, read on, as this book is written for you.

United Arab Emirates, Denise Ames photo

More About
Travel with New Eyes:
A Global Awareness Guide for Travelers

  • I have written this book to enhance global awareness for travelers who can, in turn, contribute to making informed decisions about important current matters and help to make sense of the discord that characterizes these tumultuous and challenging times.
    The Coast of Croatia, Denise Ames photo

  • The travel industry offers a mindboggling array of niche options available to meet the diverse needs and many different tastes of the traveling public. I would like to offer a different approach to travel that has not been offered as of this date: globally aware travel.
    Abyaneh Village, Iran, Denise Ames photo

  • This guide is an overview of what I have found to be the meaning of global awareness and the ways in which it can enhance our travels. I would like to share this personally exciting and purposeful new focus of travel with you. Throughout the book are vignettes of my experiences.
    Butcher in Naples, Italy, Denise Ames photo

Travel with New Eyes Chapter Summaries

  • 1. Global Awareness for Travelers: A New Focus of Travel

    Lays out the case for globally aware travel as a new focus of travel and explains why it is a compelling way to travel. Compares globally aware travel to other approaches to travel.
    Students in China, photo Denise Ames

  • 2. Path #1 A Holistic World History: Learning from the Past

    This holistic, “big picture,” approach to history organizes human development into five waves—Communal, Agricultural, Urban, Modern, and Global. The past has much to reveal to us.
    Children in Finland, photo Denise Ames

  • 3. Path #2 Five Worldviews: Different Ways We See the World

    Will we ever get along? Issues seen through the lens of five worldviews—indigenous, traditional, progressive, globalized, and transformative—helps us understand ourselves and others.
    Women in Bahrain, photo Denise Ames

  • 4. Path #3 Cross-Cultural Awareness: Learning About and From Others

    Are we all weird? We explore cultural differences and human commonalities using a cross-cultural organizer and five other captivating and easy to understand approaches.
    Students in Bahrain, photo Denise Ames

  • 5. Path #4 Global Issues: A Primer for Travelers


    Travelers may encounter or want to know more about five significant global issues: environment, global economy, political structures, social issues, and belief systems.
    Check point, Berlin, Germany, photo Denise Ames

  • 6. Path #5 Time Honored Insights: Integrating Wisdom of the Ages

    Like the ancient philosophers of the past, integrating time-honored insights—understanding, balancing, connecting, opening up, and laughing—into our travels unlocks wisdom.
    Mosque in Iran, photo Denise Ames

  • 7. Path #6 Well-Being: Travel as a Journey of Discovery

    Well-being is a good or satisfactory condition of existence and exists at a personal and global level. Travel can enhance our well-being through simple steps.
    Village in France, photo Denise Ames

  • 8. Path #7 Travel as a Mythic Journey: Embarking Upon a Personal Quest

    A mythic journey is a personal quest to deepen insights about our inward life and our greater purpose in the outer world.
    Lebanon/Israel border, photo Denise Ames

  • 9. Path #8 Lessons from Travel: Applications for Our Daily Life

    The lessons of travel may be simple or multi-faceted, 21 takeaways are included. Travel has the capacity to teach us many lessons if we open to its magic.
    Bazaar in Shiraz, Iran, photo Denise Ames

About the Author…

Dr. Denise R. Ames’ varied life experiences—teaching, world travels, scholarly research, personal experiences, and reflections—have contributed to her global perspectives, balanced views, and cultural insights. She earned a doctorate in world history education and has taught extensively. In 2003, she founded an educational nonprofit, Center for Global Awareness, where she has written ten books. CGA’s latest program—Global Awareness for Travelers (Gate)—aligns with Dr. Ames’ passion for travel and teaching about global awareness.

I have found that notwithstanding my form of travel, whether I am travelling on a cruise ship, a road trip, or visiting with family and friends, I can satisfy my desire to understand different cultures and historical backgrounds. Once I have deciphered the cultural clues hidden beneath the surface, I can realize my goal of greater cultural and historical understanding. This is one of the reasons I have written this book, to share with you my passion for travel along with cultural clues that I have accumulated over the years to uncover cultural differences and understand diverse historical backgrounds; in other words, to enhance global awareness for travelers.

Persepolis in Iran, photo Denise Ames

Incorporating the principles of global awareness into your itinerary and habits of mind can enhance your experiences and make your travels more memorable and life-changing. 

More About the Book

Grandfather and grandson, China, photo Denise Ames

Globally aware travelers learn from people similar to and different from us, explore significant global issues, consider multiple worldviews, examine layers of world history, and reflect on their inner well-being and outer purpose in the world.

Denise crossing border from Juarez, Mexico to US

My overall purpose in writing this book is to enhance travelers’ global awareness by understanding our place in the wider world and our relationships with others.