I had the same revelation when I studied in the Netherlands for 4 months. You think you are going there to learn only about a new country and its people, and you come back having learned equally as much about your own.

I also happened to take a class on the Second Industrial Revolution, which compared Germany, Great Britain and the U.S. and in a class of mostly German students, it was quite an eye-opener and forced me to adjust my perspective.

Travel is invaluable. Well worth whatever debt I accumulated.