The difference is of course, that when a bilingual is abroad, they’re not merely ‘getting by.’ They can swim around and explore the depths of a culture, scooping up new pearls of wisdom as they do so, rather than frantically treading water, doing their best stay alive.

And the advantages of multilingualism stretch far beyond the obvious. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on studies that have proved bilinguals have a more heightened awareness of their environment than monolinguals. As Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain explains, “Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often... It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.” This enhanced awareness of surroundings is precisely the sort of skill a traveler benefits from when faced with a foreign environment.