Over the years, I've constantly been asked why I choose to travel internationally. Now that I've launched the blog that question is back at the forefront.
There is an easy, surface answer to the question - travel is exciting. There's nothing like the thrill and freedom of journeying to exotic lands to experience sites like the ancient ruins of Rome or the awe-inspiring peaks of the Andes or the intricately-crafted temples of Kyoto.
But the excitement of these postcard scenes wears off after only a few days. It's the experience of interacting with, and learning about, different people and different cultures that remains long after the trip ends.
The real thrill begins when a traveler lands in a locale with an unfamiliar language, an unfamiliar way of doing things and an unfamiliar way of thinking. If the traveler can let loose of a few of his/her preconceptions of how things should be, it's a wonderful opportunity to begin to see the perspectives of others, and it puts the world into a whole new light, while at the same time serving as a reminder that one's own culture is not the only culture.
In addition, I travel because I believe it makes me a better ESOL teacher. I work with students from around the world, especially Latin America. I'm able to empathize and connect better with my students, at least those from Latin America, because I've eaten their food, seen many of their native cities, experienced their cultures and speak their language.
As a teacher, travel has also helped me understand some of the frustration of my students at adapting to a new land. I've felt a little bit of what it's like to be the outsider in a foreign place. For example, years ago, I spent seven weeks in Mexico. One weekend, I visited a family in the countryside. I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent, but it was difficult to detect on that trip because I was using the Spanish vocabulary of a four year old. The low point of the weekend for my self-esteem came when the mother in the family turned to a neighbor and laughed saying, "Él no entiende nada." Unfortunately, I knew enough Spanish to understand that she was saying, "He understands nothing."
Over the years, I've been asked about my philosophy of travel, as well. Like anyone, I enjoy an occasional luxury, but it's far too easy to visit a country and patronize only luxury hotels and luxury restaurants, where English and dollars are the norm, and risk coming away with an experience that might not be much different from home.
I've always preferred throwing on a backpack, traveling on public transportation, and staying in basic, locally-owned accommodations. That way, I feel good about supporting the local economy, and I have a better opportunity to actually get to know and to forge ties with the people who live there. Better yet, a week or two of volunteering is a great way to learn even more about a culture, while at the same time lending a helping hand.
Last summer, I loved seeing the sites of Peru for a month, but it was the 12 days that I spent living with a family in Cusco and volunteering at Aldea Yanapay that made the trip.
Some companies charge thousands of dollars for a "volunteer vacation," but with a bit of homework, it's possible to volunteer oversees for little to no money. I found Aldea Yanapay on the site Independent Volunteer.org.
Now, more the ever, world cultures are becoming interconnected due to the growth of multinational corporations, the explosion of the internet and the ease with which people can jet across the globe. I can think of no better way to promote world understanding and to break down barriers than by getting outside of one's comfort zone by getting outside of one's own backyard.
I've read that less than 30% of people in the United States own a passport. That's ashamed because there are such fascinating cultures out there waiting to be explored. I tell everyone if you have even the slightest thought about traveling internationally, do it.
For me, it's all about one's financial priorities. Possessions come and go, but experiences, like travel, can never be taken away.
Aside from all my reasons for traveling, I think that author Miriam Beard summed it up best when she said, "Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
There's the flip side of the coin, too. Americans who travel do bring a sense of the US to the other countries. Slavic scholars have attributed the fall of the Soviet Union to two as-yet-uncredited significant influences that the Soviet government tried in vain to regulate: (1) American scholars in the USSR (although there were always ever only a handful of us and we were constantly watched and followed, I know we caused many questions to be raised in our small groups about Soviet propaganda that then expanded like the ripples in a pond caused by one small rock, and (2) the Internet, which allowed many Russians a chance to "feel" the freedom of the West -- they were able to get around many of the government's restrictions on the Internet because the Internet was too complex and the Russian population too large for the government to control it all. In the end, well, we all know what happened in the end.
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