Travel vital to education
This past weekend I went home for Halloween. After the trick-or-treaters had all gone home and the nieces were tucked in bed, I found myself wide awake. I went through all of my drawers and found my old journals and photo albums. I couldn’t help but get lost in a sea of memories.
Photo courtesy of Edhelian at Flickr.com
I thought back on the time I hiked through the jungle in Costa Rica and the time I crawled along the Great Wall of China, clinging to the broken stones for dear life. From Indian tribes in Panama to castles in Poland, all of these trips have changed me in ways I couldn’t possibly measure.
As students, travel is a vital part of our education. It opens our minds to new ideas and helps us understand one another. According to the old adage, “Never judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” This would imply that if you really want to understand someone, you should not only walk in their shoes, but on their streets.
Traveling provides new ideas and experiences from a new point of view. Foreign places soon feel like home and strangers become family. According to one nomad, “Travel changes everybody. No one ever looks at life the same way again. We all come back with a greater appreciation for life and people. That’s how travel can change the world.”
As Mark Twain put it, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Only then can we truly change the world and ourselves, one trip at a time.
My Field Study in India guided my education in ways I never expected. Instead of just seeing places or ‘doing India’, it gave me the chance to build real relationships with people in the community I lived in. I walked with them, ate with them, learned their dances and songs, asked questions, shared a little bit of who I was. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
What a happy little fantasy world you live in! Unfortunately, the reality is that we aren’t all as spoiled rich as you seem to be. We are in a scary economy where many people have to fight to stay afloat. Many well educated, qualified people are unable to find jobs to support their families. As a young married college student I work hard to scrape by. And here you are saying that spending large amounts of money unnecessarily is part of our education? Give me a break. Travel is nice and I don’t have anything against seeing and experiencing the world. But rather than brag about how lucky you are to have wealthy parents who spoil you maybe you should take a look at the world in your own back yard. A better ‘education’ might be to get involved with local charities and put all of that extra money to good use by helping your fellowmen. Just an idea.
Katie- I loved this blog about travelling, and since I know why and where you were in your travels I can honestly say to ‘Carlyle’ “Never judge a book by it’s perceived cover.” I know you worked hard and saved for your months in China (teaching English to children), and that hiking through Costa Rican jungles and visiting native Indians in Panama were just side trips since you were really there to visit family in the first place. The 18 months you spent in cold, sun-deprived, people ‘un-friendly’ Poland while on your mission were such a sacrifice and a blessing to so many! I’m proud of you for focussing on the fun in your travels, even when ‘fun’ wasn’t the reason for your travelling.
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