Truthfully, I have not traveled outside of the United States at this point in my life. I’ve traveled to many different parts within the country even just in the past year such as Washington D.C., Denver, and Los Angeles. Typically, what makes a place desirable for me is a combination of historical significance or the chance to spend time outdoors. I’m very fond of going to museums, taking tours that are all about the history of an area, and truly just experiencing things that give me a chance to learn! Besides history I am very fond of being in the outdoors, I really love hiking and being immersed in nature. Any place that can offer anything different regarding a geological standpoint is a big plus for me. I am one of those people who use vacations and trips to stay busy and experience as much as possible! I have plans to travel here soon in the next year to Canada and fingers crossed Iceland and I can’t wait!
Amy Huberman starts by explaining to her friends that she travels to be exposed and see new things, to feel liberated and to feel how other people lived but that quickly changed as she was exposed to more and more. Beginning with “small” situations where she came face to face with poverty and the unkept way that India kept their country to the unfortunate situation with police that she had to witness after being molested on her walk home, Amy’s mind began to change. During her final stop on that trip in China she kind of scoffed at the idea of the “Windows of the World” amusement park did she learn something incredibly valuable from her friend Xiao who said “You Americans can go anywhere in the world, but we Chinese have only these amusement parks. This is the most we will ever see of the world.” Amy was no longer taking for granted the life and way of living that we as American’s have in the U.S. It’s very easy to feel mundane about where you live or have a feeling that other people have it so much better, it isn’t until seeing those places that have far less than you can you truly appreciate what you have back home.
From the list of ten benefits of traveling the three I feel are most important to myself are learning about the world, the unforgettable moments and experiences you take with you, and being more independent and confident with myself.
Learning about the world: As I mentioned previously, I am very interested and fascinated by the history our world has to offer. Obviously, the United States has a lot of history within our borders we have nothing compared to the rest of the world. I am very interested and think it’s very important to be educated and understanding of different cultures, religions, etc. and I believe the only way you can do that besides learning from a book about it is to see it face to face. When traveling you come across things that you would NEVER see in your home and that to me is so important.
Provides unforgettable moments and experiences: I am surrounded by a lot of people who have traveled and even lived in other countries and hearing their endless stories about their time and experiences really makes me jealous as I do not have those (specifically in regard to travels outside the U.S.). Even though my travels are strictly here in the country I have some of my fondest memories on those travels. Things in our day to day life typically don’t provide that kind of excitement and life altering moments that traveling does, I don’t remember what I did two weeks ago but I can explain to you in detail a trip I had years ago. Those memories are cherished and really motivate me to live life to the fullest.
Being more independent and confident with myself: I’ll be honest, I grew up very much in a small-town bubble. I was never around people different from myself or challenged. Life in my small-town was incredibly safe (almost too much) because I have realized as I got older it made me afraid of the outside world. For example, my first time traveling in a major city subway system made me so uncomfortable when I truly had nothing to worry about. I definitely feel uncomfortable traveling alone even on a small scale and I’d really like to change that.
Hannah Peterson’s 6 reasons to travel abroad while you’re young are:
1. You’ll get out of your comfort zone.
2. Traveling builds confidence.
3. You will develop cultural sensitivity.
4. You can adapt to globalization.
5. Be immersed in a second (or third) language.
6. Infinite opportunities to network.
Hannah’s points are all so true, our world is getting smaller by the day with things like social media, jobs, etc. We are more connected than we have ever been. One of the things Hannah talked about in her article I thought was the most important point, but it didn’t make it onto her list. She explained that the skills and experiences that you gain from traveling you can take through the rest of your life as an adult. What you see and experience as a young person can really shape how you view and interact with the world! Hannah also mentioned that we can always find many excuses to not travel and it may seem like you don’t have the time, but the fact of the matter is it only gets harder to do so as an adult because life only gets more complicated.
I believe the main reasons why Americans don’t travel were covered in the article from CNN; cost, geographical location, time, and comfort in our own environment. First and foremost, I believe the size and location of our country plays a huge role in why we don’t travel. The size of the U.S. gives you so many different geographical regions that you don’t need to leave the country in order to see and feel like you are somewhere different. The location of our country makes it difficult to travel anywhere besides our neighbors because nothing can be a short trip (even travel within the U.S. sometimes). International travel is most definitely something that must be planned and is typically long. Due to that distance cost plays a huge role, you will always have to fly and as we all know flights can add up very quickly depending on the size of family and where you would like to go. The cost to just get to the location can be more than the accommodation and experiences once you’re there. I also believe that we are not raised in the U.S. with an importance on leisure time and traveling, while other countries encourage gap years and even second languages in school that’s not a priority here in the U.S. I know when I took off time between high school and college it was looked at as a very bad thing!
I feel as if my parents are good examples of people who have put themselves in self-imposed isolation, perhaps without even realizing it. My parents grew up in a small-town environment, even more so than myself and were exposed to even less of any other culture or people. That sense of community is very much a comfortable bubble and I feel like the idea of leaving that bubble is overwhelming and scary to them because they know nothing else. I feel like being in situations that they don’t know about almost makes them feel dumb and uneducated, so they just avoid it all together. A great point I see as a factor is they grew up in an era where traveling especially by plane was a very luxurious thing that was out of the realm for average people. As we know now that has changed drastically and traveling to certain places with a bit of planning can be quite affordable, but my parents still have that mindset from that era and don’t even look or think about traveling anywhere other than by car.
I did enjoy the Long way Round series as there were many moments that were quite comical and left me shaking my head a few times. With that being said I do find myself agreeing with Sam Wollaston’s review, while it was entertaining and fun at times the pomp and circumstance around their trip almost ruined the whole point. The trip was inspired by Ted Simon, a man who embarked on a 53,000-mile trip through 54 countries alone and on a bike. But McGregor and Boorman were not alone, in fact they had an entire team of people constantly around them. They had special bikes and equipment provided to them, doctors on hand, and even people to maintain their bikes. It’s quite a different trip than the one Tim made that’s for sure, it’s not really even comparable. I do wish it had to do with more of the areas they were traveling through than their bike mishaps and accidents.
I think the scenes in Siberia / Eastern Russia is one of the most recognizable moments in the series where a little bit of planning and understanding of the area could have prevented the entire disaster. Just in regard to environmental geography we know that areas like that of Eastern Russia have a lot of flooding during their summer months so many roads are impassable, or water logged. It’s something that happens every year and should have been discussed prior to just driving there without any research.
Submitted by Ashley Parks on 1/31/2019.