The UN International Day of Peace was celebrated on the 21st of September, with a theme for 2026 that invited all of us to invest in peace – every day, no matter where we live, and no matter what role we play on the stage of life.
This reminded me of the photo I have attached. I took this in 2016 during a stopover in the UAE on my way from Australia to Europe. Mark, my son and I were invited to spend some time with the family of one of my ex-students at Zayed University in Dubai.
At the end of the day, I asked Mark and Sultan to look up for a photo. They spontaneously held up the peace sign. It wasn’t a pose or a performance; it was a moment of pure, uncalculated connection. In that split second, I realised:
Peace is not just about global politics but about relationships. It is about the meaningful, intimate connections in our lives.
This resonates with a quote of mine from my book ‘The Way of the Peaceful Traveller – Dare to Care and Connect:
The Joy of Travel is not just about The Art of Travel but The Art of Living Together – Peacefully.
Peace, clearly, is about connection; a state of caring minds and thoughtful hearts. Peace is a universal value inherent in our humanity. And travel is now regarded, more than ever, as a way to establish bridges and enjoy nourishing relationships.
Travel has once again risen to one of the major ways to pursue happiness. Travel, from a psychological perspective, is a personal project with a focus on self-care, mindfulness, and individual empowerment – and the idea of inner peace. Happiness and inner peace, and how we can experience these, however, varies for each one of us at any given time.
On the other hand, there is also the notion of outer peace, peace that exists between people –between us and those in our immediate environment at home, and between us and those we meet during our travels – not just during our holidays but on our journey through life.
Both inner and outer peace are important for our sense of survival, our sense of wellbeing, and our sense of happiness.
In the end, we are all travellers here on Mother Earth. We are all co-creators of our life experiences, as tourists or as someone working in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry – directly or indirectly. Our attitudes and behaviours impact how we live together – harmoniously or antagonistically.
While travel and tourism are treated by many as a ‘separate bubble’ to daily life, they are a microcosm of society. They are a reflection of the cultural and individual value systems, which are known to clash at times – between us and within us, and can lead to inner and outer conflict.
In a world of growing disconnect and individualism, more and more voices are reminding us of the need to refocus on relationality, a shift from ‘me’ to ‘we’, and a shift from ‘them’ to ‘us’ as a global society. This is what Terry Real, well-known couple and family therapist, refers to as relational mindfulness, our willingness and capacity to foster relational empowerment.
In our aspirations for peace, wellbeing, and happiness, we benefit from considering the other side of the coin – that of conflict, which is linked to not only different worldviews but also access to resources and power and control. Two levels of power are worthy to bear in mind:
- The Lust for Power at an individual analysis level (the “me” that seeks control).
- The Struggle for Power at a systemic analysis level (the structures of inequality).
Through our daily news and social media, we are witnessing the lust and struggle for power. This power struggle might be interpreted as purely political, but that struggle often originates in the individual human being’s lust for power and control. Psychologist and therapist Esther Perel reminds us that “in today’s world, intimate relationships are the new site of conflict.” The “lust for power” in relationships mirrors the “struggle for power” on a global stage.
We cannot treat the individual and the system as separate silos. The profound truth is: conflict exists between humans at all levels, from the micro of our homes to the macro of our world. To truly invest in peace, we need a systems thinking approach that connects the dots from the micro to the macro, highlighting the intimate relationship between inner and outer peace:
- The Micro (The Individual & The Pause): This is where the personal work begins – where we get to explore the relationship we have with ourselves. This is where we get to choose trust over fear, understanding that fear is the engine for conflict while trust is the engine for peace. As Victor Frankl said: “In the space between stimulus and response lies our freedom to choose.”
- The Meso (The Relationship & The Community): This is where we experience the joys and challenges of relationships, in our private and professional spheres. It’s where we can start asking: What relationships matter; what does our relationship need right now; and, what is my role in the relational dynamics. As Terry Real points out, it is our understanding of each other’s subjective experiences and needs that foster peaceful connections.
- The Macro (The System & The Culture): This is the overall relational ecology the world of structures, resources, power and control. It’s where we must acknowledge that individual peace cannot flourish in a system built on inequality, exclusion, and “power over”. We cannot “meditate away” the effects of patriarchy. We must address them.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan pointed out that while the process of globalisation has brought people together – and travel and tourism is seen to do just that –it also has driven people apart. It has done so by failing to share not only the benefits but also the burdens, perpetuating inequalities experienced by many.
Over the years, I have realised that peace is not an end goal but a process, not only at the macro level of politics but in our daily lives. Peace is about relationships and the continuous flux between harmony and disharmony. Peace isn’t a destination; it is a process with a willingness for repair.
Peace starts at home, in our immediate environment – in our intimate relationships, in our families, among friends, and at work, all with a potential to reverberate into society at large. Peace also functions the other way around, when peace-oriented leaders on the global stage stand up for human dignity, mutual respect, and actions that create opportunities for peaceful coexistence.
Peace begins the moment control ends. And that place is not just within us; it is between us.
Peace rests in the choices we make every day, starting with the choice to dare to care and connect, to show a willingness for repair, always sensitive to the relational dynamics that we are part of – at micro, meso, and macro level. With greater relational capacity, we can take agency in our daily lives, as relational champions and ambassadors for goodwill on our journey through life. After all,
Life is a journey. Relationships are the terrain.
It is up to each one of us to ensure we are fit to navigate the world of modern relationships for inner and outer peace.
