Lessons from: Journeys Focused on Connection and Purpose

There’s a certain kind of travel that asks less of your itinerary and more of your presence. It is not a hurried sprint from one famous landmark to the next, or a checklist of sights to tick off.

Instead, it invites you to stay, to observe, and to absorb.

True connection happens when you spend enough time in a place for the unfamiliar to become familiar, not just in sights but in faces, gestures, customs, and rhythms. Long enough that your presence no longer feels like an interruption, but rather a gentle thread woven into the rich tapestry of local life wherever you may be.

At MegbyDesign, our photoshoots take us across the globe, but we don’t approach this in the traditional travel and tourism sense so often portrayed. We do it because we love it, the slow, purposeful immersion that only this kind of travel offers. We don’t hop between monuments or seek out popular hot spots. Instead, we root ourselves in each place. We stay, we engage, we share, and above all, we learn. We let the places and people shape us as we capture the beauty of each place in single frames.

In India, we’ve ventured into remote villages where the air is perfumed with incense and spices, where the sounds of morning prayer songs drift from temples across lakes, and where eyes, curious, warm, and honest, meet ours with a curiosity that cannot be bought or scheduled.

This is not something you encounter peering out from a tour bus window. It is found by walking the narrow back streets, sharing a cup of tea with locals, and embracing the quiet humility that comes from listening and being open to change.

In Italy, where I have spent half the year living and observing, I have witnessed the slow unfolding of seasons and the way strangers’ faces become familiar. 

I have built a simple, joyful friendship with the man at the fruit shop, who greets me with a smile and arms in the air, and always picks out the best peaches for me.

I have been welcomed into family homes, sitting at real tables laden with home-cooked meals, surrounded by laughter, mispronounced words, and recipes lovingly passed down through generations.

Wherever you may go, you see the pride in different cultures, the willingness and joy of culture shared. The generosity of spirit is a gift for anyone willing to meet people on their own unique terms.

And then there is Lamu, a small island off the coast of Kenya where time seems to slow even further. No cars, only donkeys and boats, winding alleys where the scent of the sea mingles with the earthiness of the old town. It is a place where we were not just visitors passing through but part of the daily ebb and flow while we were there.

In Lamu, we felt the deep stillness and profound peace that come from living in harmony with your surroundings and your community. It was here, immersed in that gentle rhythm, that we truly understood the meaning behind the word that inspired our collection, Amani, peace, coexistence, and respect.

This is the difference.

When you stay longer and slow down, you start to see beyond the postcard image of a place.

You unravel the stereotypes you may have carried for years without realising it.

You learn directly from real people living real lives, not from headlines,
hashtags, or curated snapshots.

This way of travelling softens you.

It makes you less quick to judge and more ready to understand.

It diminishes fear and pushes back against hate.

It reminds us all that the world is mostly made up of good people trying their best and fills you with an insatiable curiosity for what other magic exists out there.

It draws us closer, weaving invisible threads of understanding and compassion that transcend continents.

Amani is a collection created to honour this way of seeing the world.
It celebrates women who move through life with curiosity, courage, and care.
Garments designed not just to be worn, but to be lived in, through real moments, in real places, with real people.

So next time you travel, consider staying longer.
Walk slower. Shop local. Eat food made with love.
Look people in the eye. Ask for their stories.

Let yourself be changed.

Because when we make the effort to understand each other, even just a little, we create space for peace.

And when you arrive with open hands and an open heart, the world responds differently.

That, truly, is something worth embracing.