> Although your travel experience may make you a more interesting person, that isn't altogether the point of the interview

Maybe it is a mistake that it's not a point in the interview? In fact, I'd care a lot about the personality of a person I will be working with in the future.

I understand that in the "cattle hiring" model where you hire people and then assign a team, this is irrelevant, but I personally consider this a huge weakness of cattle hiring.