Why Traveling Makes You an Awesome Person

There is a difference between simply leaving one place and arriving in another. A teacher once asked her class if anyone in the class had ever been to California. A child in the class excitedly raised his hand and said he had been to San Francisco. The teacher asked the boy what he saw when he visited this famous city. He replied, “Grandma’s house.”

In this post, we will talk about travelers. If you are a traveler (or want to be) you will find it changes you.

Different Worlds

We look at this wonderful planet we live on, and we see different countries. But, we actually live in different worlds. Customs and traditions that we utilize in our homeland are not used in others. In fact, sometimes a gesture that we use to express affection is considered an insult in other countries.

There are reasons for the customs in different countries. There are historical, economical, and natural reasons why a custom is formed. So when one travels, he doesn’t just go from point A to point B and take pictures that every other tourist takes. He has years to meet the people. He longs to sit and talk with them and learn about their lives. They long to hear about his world. A true traveler has a desire to learn about the world. Not just the postcard versions, but the truth of an area.Ways being a traveler can make you an awesome person.

Getting outside your comfort zone gives you a sense of awe. Imagine visiting the Himalayas Mountains. Standing at the bottom of the mountain, you must think this is paradise. You will soon learn the challenges of the people who actually live in these mountains.

You will have a guide to help you get to the summit. They may speak broken English that they have learned from prior visitors. You are warned not to travel off the path, as there is danger in many forms on the mountain. As you pass small villages, you realize, their normal day-to-day life is nothing like yours. Where a child lives determines when he can start school. Usually the child is allowed to walk to school when they would be in the 3rd grade in developed countries. Then they usually quit by the 8th grade to start working to help provide for the family.

What this does for you

You will have a new appreciation for the way your country allows and guarantees education. You will have a new respect for the children who have no choice to go o to school, Go to college and get a degree. You will see that in the most beautiful places in the world, water, electricity, and food comes at a high price.

You will become part of the present. We are all guilty of going on autopilot. We get up have coffee, driving to work and reversing the station. But, go to a new country. How do they buy food? Is it sold at the market and must be bought every day? Do the people eat their big mea mid-day, instead of in the evening? Do the people there take a midday nap?

This shows you what other people consider important. Many cultures believe that the people who work for them is most important. This shows the effort that the caregiver utilizes, and the care she puts in for their meal.

Throughout your journey you will see how people travel, live, respect their lives and their home. Maybe this awakens your appreciation for the world we live in. Maybe you find an area where the people, the beauty, and the environment is so impressive that you would like to have your wedding there. There are plenty of destination sites for weddings, but yours would be a true and unique experience that would give your family a gift of a lifetime

Take your wedding dress with you to satisfy your dreams. But, then ask about the wedding customs of the locals. There may be some things that they do, that you would like to incorporate into your wedding ritual.

Our governments and organizations spend millions of dollars trying to find life on other planets. If they would spend half that investing into the “worlds” our own globe, the lives of millions of people would benefit. Of course we want to preserve history and the customs of the ancient days. We do not have to destroy history to bring water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, or education to those who simply want to live as all humans have a right to.

We urge you to travel. We urge you to learn about other cultures. Not from magazines, postcards, or marketing schemes. Go and see for yourself. Who knows? You may be the one person who can change the world.