Comments on: What Makes Travel Abroad Unique, and Why Should Americans Do It?

By: mattnnz

mattnnz — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:07:24 +0000

I think you are overly hard on people from the USA. There are 300 million of us. Some sinners, some saints with almost everyone else in between just trying to get by. One thing I find to be true is that everyone in the world is very similar in most ways. What is the use in all this self flagellation? Go out and experience the world and let it be what it is and let people be who they are. Be who you are. The learning can go both ways. It is not as if the USA has nothing to offer the rest of the world. We are a nation of immigrants who took a chance on a better life. That has got be worth something. I do agree that we have become far too fearful and as a result are turning away from freedom and toward control to be safe. Step outside and lightning is more likely to get you than terrorists.

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By: Mara

Mara — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:03:37 +0000

I think this is a great post. I know lots of people for whom travel is a way to show off or to complete some kind of checklist. It is definitely possible to go to the remotest corners of the globe and have one’s eyes and ears closed – after all, we do take ourselves with us everywhere we go, don’t we?

Last winter I wrote a post in which I defended the relevance of travel, even in trying economic times. (It’s called “Is travel relevant? This mom says yes, and you can find it here: http://www.motherofalltrips.com/2009/02/is-travel-relevant-this-mom-says-yes.html). Most of the places I’ve gone with my kids wouldn’t be considered all that challenging or exotic by some of the other travelers I know. But I try to approach each new place with an open mind and an open heart. Traveling with kids definitely helps me to do that.

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By: Turner

Turner — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:29:50 +0000

Travel is the best school one can attend. Good stuff, Sarah.

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By: Christine Garvin

Christine Garvin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:09:48 +0000

I’m glad you brought up the important aspect of just because a person travels abroad does not necessarily make them less ignorant of other cultures, when it’s more about the commodity of travel than the experience itself. It kinda gets at the heart of why should people travel?

As I was reading your piece, I thought about the short week I was in Zimbabwe (I was in Zambia for most of my African trip) and how that forever changed me around following the politics of another nation. Of course, there’s no way to keep up with all the intricacies of politics all over the world, but I think that in traveling for the sake of connecting to other people, each of us is deeply impacted by at least one place, and at least one tribe other than our own. And that can only help to make us recognize our oneness.

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By: joshua johnson

joshua johnson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:39:17 +0000

for this American, international travel is what indeed remedied a narrow and yes, twisted view of the world. I was a post 9/11 patriot that wanted to drop bombs first and ask questions later. I was slightly bigoted, out for war and public education had left me with no reasonable view of the world at large. One backpacking trip took care of that.
Because we the biggest footprint, Americans need to see the world they are treading on.

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