This work has sent me to more cities than I can easily count. The destinations blur together after a while, but the people don’t. If travelling for work has taught me anything, it’s a handful of stubborn truths about human beings – the same everywhere, however different the postcode.

Everyone is a little lonely

Different languages, different skylines, the same quiet ache. In every city I’ve visited, I’ve met people who are surrounded and still lonely – the busy executive, the popular host, the person who seems to have everything. Loneliness doesn’t care about your address. It’s the most universal thing I’ve found.

People are kinder than the headlines suggest

You hear that the world is cold and getting colder. On the ground, city after city, that’s not what I see. Strangers give directions, share umbrellas, look out for each other in small unremarkable ways. Most people, given half a chance, are decent. Travel restores your faith more than it dents it.

Status is mostly a costume

I’ve met the very wealthy and the very ordinary, and underneath the suits and the titles they want the same things: to be heard, to laugh, to feel less alone for a while. Status is a costume people wear. Take an honest interest in anyone and it tends to slip off within the hour.

Home is a feeling you carry

Living out of a case taught me that home isn’t a place – it’s a steadiness you bring with you. Knowing who I am and what my limits are is what lets me feel grounded in a city I’ll never see again. You can be at home anywhere if you’re at home in yourself.

The takeaway

You don’t have to travel for a living to learn this. Wherever you are, assume the stranger across from you is a little lonely, probably kind, and wearing a costume they’d happily set down. Treat people that way and the whole world starts to feel a great deal smaller, and a great deal warmer.