Traveling is A Privilege

"I believe traveling will improve your life & understanding of self."

This is a statement I fundamentally agree, I had it as a recent Facebook status. However as with everything traveling is a double-edged sword. Well documented but never to be overstated traveling as a whole is a privilege. It is the duty of those who travel to always understand this & keep it in the back of our heads, especially when we are in an unfamiliar country or culture.

There is without a doubt a glorification of those who are living a travel-centric lifestyle. It does not take long scrolling down our social media feeds to figure out the friend I am talking about. I am first & foremost an advocate of traveling but even for those individuals who are making sacrifices to live this life - it comes with some degree of privilege. As a whole I think people do an excellent job of acknowledging this, a positive side effect of traveling is an increased self-awareness. Mark Twain has a lot to say about life but I feel what he says about traveling strikes especially true.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

While traveling is surely not a cure-all I do agree with Twain that traveling helps one to see the many faces of humanity. If someone has had the privilege of traveling they should share those experiences with those who have not yet been able to. It does not need to be in a formal way, grabbing some beers & sharing stories more than suffices.

To be sure traveling deserves all the glory it gets. I know for me interacting with travelers, hearing their stories has made me a better person. As a final note, never be afraid to ask an ignorant question, regardless of how silly it may seem. Most recently I did not understand when or if there was a pattern as to when Indians wear the red line (Tika) or dots (Bindi) on their forehead. After laughing at me for a bit my Indian friends replied that it was often a personal choice & not so much following a set pattern.

A few final points about the privilege of traveling that I will expand upon in future posts -

There are a lot of people who do not have the economic leverage to travel & are in the most need to do so. For fear to do so or lack of means, there are many around the world given the chance would travel to somewhere they are not.

Traveling experiences can be very dependent on what you look like or where you are from. Being a white male from the United States affords me a level of security that most in the world do not have. I have done nothing to be granted this luxury, but I would be remiss to not acknowledge it as a truth.

Thanks for reading! Comments & suggestions welcome

-Tim