Around my mid to late 20’s I was working an average job that was paying really well, the only problem was I wasn’t slowly dying on the inside, I wanted more, I believed that I was meant to do more than just work and pay bills. So I took a leap of faith, resigned from my job, decided to go back to school and travel the world. Hands down one of the scariest choices in my life but the absolute best choice that I have ever made period. In my moderately short time on this planet I have experience being told but not seeing, seeing everything that I wasn't told and coming back and telling but not being heard. Sounds pretty confusing right? Well, here's what I mean:
Living in the US before the concept of fake news was even a thing, most of what I was thought I knew came from the people I knew, things I researched, the news, books etc. The only problem was most of these accounts were either bias or not exactly the truth, but who was I to argue I had never been to these places. I remember people telling me “oh you don’t need to travel to others countries we have everything here, mountains, beaches, national landmarks, the best food top attractions you name it.” So my perspective was pretty narrow but I knew that there had to be more.
Once I traveled outside of the country I had a childlike curiosity, wanting to explore and see everything. So far I managed to travel to the United Kingdom, Europe, Dubai, India, Iceland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia. What I found was that yes the US does have beaches, mountains and all that good stuff but the rest of world was phenomenal the people, the culture, the arts, the happiness, It honestly was like stepping onto a whole other planet. They say learning new things is just as addicting as drugs well, learning about how different people lived and things that they dealt with life and how they cherished the small things compared to whether or not you can make it to Starbucks before work really sunk in. I learned a lot about myself, about my family, about people in general and I really came back a better person. I appreciated what I had and things that I didn’t but most importantly gained a whole new level of respect for others.
Coming back was hard because I wanted to continue to learn and experience all that the world had to offer. Of course, I wanted to share my experiences but some heard what I told them and are planning to travel and some are stuck with the mindset that it is too dangerous in others countries and they are perfectly fine here. Even with all the photos, videos and crazy stories they still are either afraid or would rather stay confined to this little plot of land we call home.
I believe that if we all took some time out of our busy schedules to just travel the world and embrace different cultures a lot of prejudice, hatred misunderstandings and false beliefs would be minimized. I do understand that certain companies profit from a closed-minded perspective, but it’s time that we pull back the veil and see for ourselves, live, learn, love and experience the world. Travel embrace cultures and grow as citizens of the world not just the small countries that we call home!
