Former President Barack Obama vacations in Hawaii and Palm Springs , and his Instagram shows he loves to travel . But there was one trip that Obama says was part of his "self discovery."

A solo trip through Europe and Kenya when he was a young adult was "memorable" and "special," Obama said at the World Travel & Tourism Council's Global Summit 2019, and it taught him a lot about himself.

"I was already in my mid-20s. I had graduated from college, I had already worked," Obama told Hilton CEO and WTTC chairman Christopher Nassetta.

But "I'd never traveled to Europe before. That trip was memorable because it was part of my self discovery," he said.

"...I did not have any money," Obama said. "I was traveling alone. In Europe, I was in these 'pensiones' [hostels] and I'd basically buy a baguette and cheese and ate that every day, and some wine on occasion.

"I still remember taking the bus from Madrid to Barcelona, overnight. My Spanish wasn't very good. I befriended this fellow traveler on the bus who could speak English and I shared with him some bread and he shared with me some wine. And we arrived in Barcelona and it was just daybreak and I remember walking toward Las Ramblas. The sun was coming up...