Why I travel

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page. – Saint Augustine

I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. –Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

When I told people that I was traveling to Vietnam this past May I was surprised at the strong reactions I received from people.  Reactions varied from shock and disbelief to slight horror, particularly when I shared that I was traveling solo.  I’m not sure why, after all of these years, I am still surprised by these reactions.  Whenever I have traveled, the prevailing response has always been one of surprise, awe, and often time puzzlement.  Why would you want to go there?  Why would you go by yourself?  That doesn’t sound very relaxing.  You’re so daring, adventurous and/or brave. 

My trip to Vietnam felt like it garnered an especially heavy dose of these type of reactions. Was it because Vietnam was viewed as particularly “exotic” or unusual? Or because of the distance?  Or was it just that I hadn’t traveled in a while so I forgot how strong of a reaction this kind of travel evokes in those unfamiliar?  Whatever it was, for some reason, these comments wore me down.  I felt like I was constantly defending or justifying my choice – yes, it’s safe…no I don’t worry about traveling alone…yes, people do vacation in places like Vietnam….yes there are nice places to stay…no, you don’t have to be particularly adventurous or brave to travel there, etc., etc.

But, if I am totally honest I have to admit that at times leading up to the trip I let some of these reactions wear me down and doubts did start to creep in…am I crazy?...is this unwise or unsafe?...why do I do this?  Luckily for me I didn’t let those doubts consume me.  It helped to have a few friends in my life who “get it.”  No explanation needed – of course you’re going to Vietnam and of course it’s going to be awesome.  Whenever the doubts started to feel overwhelming or urged me to pull back I thought of these folks (or gave them a call) and instantly remembered that traveling to Vietnam is not a crazy, reckless idea. 
And, of course by day three of my trip I realized that all of my doubts and other people’s fears were indeed totally unfounded.  I was on an amazing adventure and, whether things went well or veered off track a bit, I was going to come back a stronger, wiser person with great stories to tell.

This got me thinking – why is there so much fear in the US related to being a traveler versus a tourist?  I say US because it does seem to be a unique peculiarity to our culture.  While traveling I met an abundance of Aussies, Kiwis, South Americans, Europeans, and Canadians.  It is part of their cultures to backpack through Southeast Asia, take a gap year, or jump a plane to Cambodia just because there is a good deal on plane tickets.  But US travelers tend to be few and far between.  We have loads of tourists in the US – people who go to see the sites of a particular place or go on a tour that schedules and designs every minute of your experience with little interaction or exposure to the real people and real life of a place.  Traveling is different.  With travel you go to experience the place, the culture, and the people.  Every minute doesn’t have to be planned and scheduled.  For some reason this sort of travel scares many Americans or ironically feels too “wild west” for their liking.  That is the ultimate irony and it makes me sad because the more I think about it the more I realize just how many amazing benefits there are to being a traveler.

So in the hope of inspiring others, alleviating fears, and demystifying and normalizing the travel experience I want to share with you some of the reasons why I travel.

1.     Learning about different countries and cultures.  And I’m not talking about just browsing museums or historical sites.  There is nothing like walking the streets of a busy city, sitting quietly in a small café or park for hours, or navigating a public transportation system to help you really begin to experience life and culture in another place.  I love to observe the customs and practices that are different from my own.  It raises my awareness of the customs and practices of my own country that I never noticed, took for granted, or accepted as “normal.”  “Normal” becomes very relative when you travel and the more I learn, observe, and understand of different cultural practices and customs the more I come to value and appreciate them and recognize them when I see them being practiced in other places.  I also love to observe how, no matter how different a culture is from my own, people are still people wherever you go.  I see a dad in Vietnam struggling to soothe an infant or calm down a two year old having a tantrum or a street vendor working the streets all day to put food on the table for her family.  At the end of the day we have more things in common as humans than we do differences.  You can only observe, learn, and experience these kinds of things when you deviate from the traditional tourist path – get out into the real, everyday life of a city, a place, a people.

2.     Remembering to travel light.  When you travel you can’t take heaps and heaps of things.  I usually take a travel backpack with just the bare essentials – two pairs of shoes, a few changes of clothes, small toiletries, a book and journal, etc.  The irony of travel is the lighter you pack the easier and more carefree your trip can be.  I find travel to be a good exercise in letting things go – if I can live for 2+ weeks with just the basics and be perfectly content and happy (in fact way more happy than if I carted around a bunch of stuff I didn’t need or use) then why do I have so much stuff in my life back at home?  Travel is a great reminder that there are very few things in life that we need to be truly happy and content and everything else tends to just drag us down in the end.  That lesson goes way beyond physical stuff too – emotional and mental stuff can weigh us down as much if not more than the physical. After a trip abroad I find myself purging in many areas of my life and being able to travel lighter, more efficiently, and agilely in my everyday life. 

3.     Travel can be cheap.  So many people think that traveling abroad is wicked expensive, an unattainable dream.  Not so!  I guarantee I spent less on my trips to Turkey and Vietnam then I would have if I had gone to Disney or traveled to a Caribbean island and stayed at a resort for a week.  I don’t stay in five star hotels, or eat in the fanciest restaurants but, as I mentioned in the first benefit of travel, part of travel for me is getting as close to everyday life in a country as is possible.  Money shouldn’t be a prohibitive factor in traveling abroad.  If you are a little big flexible about your destination and do your homework ahead of time you can find economical flights and accommodations in most places.

4.     Readjusting perspective.  When we are caught up in the everyday hamster wheel of life our problems, challenges, worries and our entire lives can feel very big and very, very important.  All I need is a few days in another place to shift my perspective back to more realistic proportions.  Traveling reminds me that the world is a very big place – my problems, my worries, and my life are just a tiny blip in the universe.  Travel also reminds me that there is a great deal more happening in the world than what we see in the US news.  What is considered “news” is all relative.  It is very freeing to be reminded that world does not revolve around the US and there is nothing big enough in my own life to worry, fret, and expend tons of energy on – I need to just let things go.  Ahhh….

5.     Expanding my comfort zones.  To me, this has been one of the biggest gifts of travel.  The more I challenge my comfort zones and do things that make me uncomfortable or scare me the bigger and more exciting my world becomes.  I am a worrier by nature – I could have easily become one of those people who says I can’t…I don’t…I won’t.  But luckily I learned early on in life that if I step into the uncomfortable zone and face my fears no matter how heart pounding and scary they feel the reward is always bigger and totally worth it.  My confidence grows, my pride for facing and overcoming the scary thing grows, and my world gets exponentially bigger because next time that thing doesn’t stop me in my tracks so easily.   

6.     Feeling of accomplishment.  I feel great satisfaction when I have packed with the exact right amount of things – using everything I brought and not missing anything I wish I brought.  What an accomplishment to successfully figure out how to travel in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and don’t understand the public transportation system.  Or order a meal where you can’t recognize any words on the page.  How bad-ass do I feel when I have an awesome trip to a place that others say is too scary, too difficult, or too far?  Travel challenges your creativity, ingenuity and boldness.  And the sense of accomplishment you feel is unparalleled.  

7.     Humility.  There is nothing like being in a place where you don’t speak the language and you need help to inject some humility and humbleness into your life.  Travel reminds me that it is not all about me – I must have patience, gratitude, kindness in everything I do.  Humbleness also comes from recognizing that my way or my country or culture’s way is not the “right” way.  It’s just one of many ways.  

8.     Disconnect and reflect.  Sadly this benefit of travel is changing.  In the past going abroad meant you had to disconnect – no cell phones, no internet, limited connection to your life at home.  I LOVED this part of traveling abroad.  I think disconnecting is healthy and gives you the opportunity to step away, reflect, refresh, and renew yourself.  It also meant that you and your fellow travels were more likely to connect with each other.  Whether traveling with others or solo people really see each other, talk, and connect when technology is removed.  This recent trip to Vietnam showed me that this aspect of foreign travel is changing.  Wifi was everywhere and many travelers had their faces buried in their devices at every turn.  Now I have to make a conscious choice to stay disconnected or limit my connectivity when I travel.  Luckily for me though, many folks in the US don’t understand this kind of travel so I can just say "nope, I won’t be reachable while I’m gone. I don’t think it will be easy to get online when I’m in Vietnam." 

 

9.     Appreciation and gratitude. Every time I travel abroad I see things in my own country – attitudes, traditions, habits, practices that I see as broken or not quite as “perfect” as they may seem at first look.  At times it makes me sad and critical of the direction our country seems to be headed.  But I also return from foreign travel with a greater appreciation for all the great things about the USA.  I appreciate my life -- the privileges, comforts, rights and conveniences that I often times take for granted.   Heck I even find myself feeling thankful for the Department of Health food safety laws after traveling to some countries.  J I am so lucky to have been born in the USA.  For good or bad we are one of the freest, greatest nations in the world and traveling abroad means I will never, ever take that for granted.

Phew, well that was more than a few things about what I love and value about traveling. I hope you enjoyed.  My trip to Vietnam got me thinking about quite a lot so I think I might have one more blog post in me.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime I leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Joseph Campbell:  “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.”