A portal into the everyday lives of people from all around the world, 2 minutes at a time

Expanding your social circle changes you. For the better.

How often do you get a window into the lives of people really different from you — people scattered around the world?

You can go out and meet them. Or you can become a fly on a wall ... and wait for them to come to you.

Bueller? GIF via "The Return of The Fly."

There's gotta be a better way! Enter two filmmakers, Epiphany and Carl, who have created the ultimate way to be a fly on the wall without, you know, actually becoming a fly. And it's called 365 docobites.

The project features a two-minute conversation with a new person in a different place EACH DAY.

Image from the 365 docobites website.

Their goal is to find a new person from a new land to speak to. Then they just let whatever happens happen.

"What do these people look like, what do they think about, what makes them laugh, cry, scream and shout, what is life like for the Strangers of the world?"

If you want to talk to people with an agenda and sound bites, look elsewhere. The encounters we get through 365 docobites are an extemporaneous, random delight.

So let's go...

TO URUGUAY!

Where they ask a local man about a statue that everyone hates (for now).

GIFs via 365 docobites' "I love this big blue statue."

Wait, did I just gain a new perspective on how there may be hope for a historically conservative country becoming more open to change?

TO BOTSWANA!

Where they ask a man about his grandpa's death.

GIFs via 365 docobites' "There is no one left to teach me."

"My grandfather was a traditional doctor and passed away. ... I was with him when he died. ... I get sad when I think about him because now there is no one left to teach me."

To Australia!

Where they talk to a radio host about the vibes he feels when he's on the air and about the power of listening.

"Listen, just listen. It's in listening that you'll hear a story and find out who somebody is. It would be really good if all of us did it more often. In all communication, shut up, and actually listen."

GIFs via 365 docobites' "Listen, just listen."

Just by hearing these three wildly random and different perspectives, you'll be doing yourself a big favor.

Research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has shown that extended travel and exposure to different perspectives changes your personality. It makes you more open to experiences, more agreeable, and more emotionally stable.

The benefits are related to changes in the social circles of those that travel. The more exposure to different perspectives, the greater the benefit.

Docobites lets us travel across five continents and get a snippet of awesomeness every single day of the year. All the perspective and none of those insane airline ticket prices!

I know many folks who just aren't able to travel. So I'm sharing this in the hopes they'll find themselves reaping some of the travel benefits from the comforts of their own screens.

Thanks to the 365 docobites project. You can watch their videos on Vimeo.