My family is the main reason why I have traveled in the past. If the purpose of the trip was not to visit family, then I was with my family exploring new places. Only twice in my life have I traveled without my family being involved during the trip and that was for school trips to Chicago and Puerto Rico. My family has lived in many different places throughout my life and I like to visit as often as I financially can. My snowbird Grandma lives in Arizona for almost half the year. My father has lived in Tennessee, South Dakota, Iowa and Arizona. My father’s family resides in Tennessee. Other places that I have been to were trips with my family to places that either hold a historical meaning or beautiful scenery. With my Grandpa and his wife, I have traveled to Kansas, Colorado and took a train to Utah. With my household family I have visited South Dakota and Florida. These were all beautiful places that I would love to see again.
In the beginning of the article Huberman states to her friend that she wanted to travel and leave Maine because she wanted to expose herself to new cultures and see the world with new eyes. Huberman would linger on this conversation for the duration of her travels and try to further explain to herself what she truly meant. In many situations in India and China she experienced culture shock with things that were simply not done in the United States. With the trash in India, she was forced to think about the standard way of life compared to the United States. Again, in India, the police station made her realize how many rights that are given in the United States. Then finally in China, the privileges and opportunities that most United States citizens get is highly taken for granted. By the end, Huberman comes to the powerful conclusion that traveling does not make someone conform to another culture, but instead builds the individual into a more aware and appreciating person than what they were before.
1. Getting out of your comfort zone is one that I believe has the most meaning when it comes to younger generations. Most young adults were sheltered from the outside world in order to protect them from any harm, but this hindered them to explore and learn for themselves what they can and cannot do. Without travel, people get stuck in the same old routine for years without any new and exciting things to make them grow as a person. In turn, when people travel and broaden their comfort zone, it then rubs off on others around that person to try and do something that is out of the norm for their routine.
2. Trailing on to the next point, young adults build confidence when traveling to different places. Whether they moved or just visited a few days in another place, this builds confidence in many ways. Independence is the main reason. After living the majority of one’s life with their parents caring for their every need, it is a little hard to find one’s independence. With traveling, new experiences are thrown to that person and they untimely they figure it out and gain some confidence out of the experience.
3. Lastly, the traveler develops a cultural sensitivity. This not only allows them to form a connection with the people in the country they are visiting, but also for anyone with that cultural background back home. The world Is becoming more globalized each year, but in some countries the understanding of other cultures is becoming polarized. This sensitivity is also good for any job since the United States is a cultural mixing pot. Having the knowledge of other cultures can help make or break any deal or transaction that businesses could face.
Peterson states that her top reasons young people should travel is because it broadens the comfort zone, builds confidence, develop cultural sensitivity, adapt to globalization, immerse in multiple languages and create infinite opportunities to network. These are all logical and factual reasons for young people to travel. I believe that time and/or money management skills along with social skills should be added to the list as well. While on vacation there is only a set dollar amount that the person can spend before being stranded at the location. There is also finding time to do all of the activities that are planned or having to prioritize them in order to not exhaust their energy by trying to rush through everything.
There are many reasons why citizens in the United States do not travel. For most, the reason is finding the money to pay for travel, living areas, food and transportation around the traveled area. However, if someone with enough dedication and drive wanted to travel, they would save up little by little till they could afford the vacation they have been planning. Another reason someone from the states would not travel I because it could make them step out of their comfort zone. No matter how big or small that zone is, people are too afraid to even try traveling to many parts of the world. Especially given that news outlets tend to bring out the worst in people and their countries outside of the United States, there is more fear of big regions of the world than the small area it is concentrated in. A hard realization for many is finding out that their job simply does not allow for the vacation time. In many lower paying labor jobs, if someone were to miss a few days in a row without shift coverage then they would be jobless coming back from vacation.
There are people around me that make up a multitude of reasons why they can not travel. Many use “lack of money” as an excuse, but will not save for a trip. This is an excuse that most of my family and friends use whenever I plan a trip for us to go on. Another reason they give, is that travel exposes them to weird and different foods or people. The reason they are that way is because they fear change. Not much changes in my family and they really like it that way.
The mother of my friend tends to not go out much unless it is their annual trip to visit family outside of the state. From what I know last time I saw her; she worked from home and had many packages delivered to her door for household items and sometimes grocery store goods. She liked it this way and wanted to minimize her interaction with others that she did not already know. She had some dogs to keep her company, and that was all she needed to make her happy.
Passport ownership is something that has been growing over time, but still shows that the United States is very secluded in their ways of doing this. Since the country is fairly large in comparison to many other countries, most people believe that a passport is unnecessary. This idea is very popular in the southern region of the United States. However, in the states that house large cities that attract a lot of tourism it is common to see the citizens then wanting to travel to other countries.
