Why I Travel

I feel compelled to travel. I have an insatiable curiosity about the world that can’t be satisfied by books. I’m an extremely physical person. My body buzzes when I engage all of my senses and expand my limits.

I want to seek out all the knowledge that I can. I don’t know what I am going to do with this knowledge, but I’m sure it will come in handy someday. Once I went to an informational meeting on French drivers license. The subject couldn’t have been less interesting, but I wanted to practice French. Later, my seemingly useless store of information came in handy when my friend got pulled over. Maybe I’ll have more experiences like that.

A short list of things I learned on my latest trip….
1.) Francophone Swiss bisous three times starting from the left.
2.) Norwegians start learning English at four years old
3.) 80% of Swedes speak English.
4.) Gustav Vigeland
5.) Gustav Klimt
6.) Theater etiquette
7.) Basic Tango
8.) New Foods
9.) New French music.
10.) Swedes like to celebrate travel with a drink, even at five in the morning.
11.) 10-15% of Jordanians are Christian.
12.) The opportunity to get a perspective on culture and politics in Jordan.
13.) Challenging conversations
14.) History
15.) Bauhaus

I don’t go looking for happiness in other countries. I’m not disappointed when I find that at a very fundamental level other countries are similar to my own. People are tired of work, they like to talk and eat. Everyone everywhere wants to be safe, happy, and loved. People are doing their best to take care of themselves and their families.

A big theme from my latest trip is wandering around towns, and talking with folks. It doesn’t sound that interesting; I don’t have to leave the United States to do that. There are pretty towns and interesting people everywhere. Every country has a psudo national identity as well as subcultures, and countercultures. So why buy plane tickets?

I get along with travelers. All my best friends in life are travelers. The people I meet on the road are kindred spirits. I appreciate and recognize fundamental similarities between other countries and my own, but I like details too. SAD didn’t affect me at all this winter because I was so stimulated by the newness and excitement of details like funny caddy’s in the grocery store.

My latest trip was particularly interesting, because it was the first time that I traveled in countries where I don’t speak the national language. The majority of people in Norway and Sweden speak English, but travel isn’t the same if one doesn’t speak the language. There is a big difference between travel and tourism. I’m cautiously willing to say that tourism is almost inevitable if one doesn’t speak the language. I don’t know anything about Swedish culture for example. Couchsurfing does a little bit to bridge the tourism versus travel gap. Nevertheless, I can’t say that after four days with one Norwegian that I have an understanding of Norwegian culture. I think of travel as a long stay, genuine cultural sharing, and language. I’m leery of the comodified element pervasive to tourism. Yet tourism has advantages, so I proceed with caution.

Indeed travel and tourism aren’t without problems. Travel is a privilege and it’s not great for the environment. I could easily be spending my time and money in more philanthropic ways. At it’s base, I believe travel is important to building a sense of global identity, compassion, and understanding. Travel also offers an invaluable opportunity to really understanding one’s mother culture. Even if someone never gets intimate with another culture, it doesn’t take much tourism to open a new perspective on home. Travel as an idea isn’t really problematic; it is the structures that surround it. Quitting travel isn’t an acceptable option; instead travelers should unite to make travel more accessible, less corporate, and more environmentally friendly.