And I loved it. Because THAT explains why I love traveling to different places so much. Each person I meet, each new thing I see, each photo I learn to take a bit better, every tidbit of information I learn, every mountain I climb, every ocean I taste, every animal I see, every new bit or bite of language I hear, every new custom I experience... I'm learning something new, doing something new, experiencing something new. And I firmly believe that makes me a much better person.
Another thing I love is that travel reminds me that people are people everywhere you go. Yes, the food is different, the dress is different, the customs and manners can be very different. But in the end, people are the same. Children giggle in the same ways and their parents love them in the same ways. Husbands and wives fight and love each other, too. People are stressed about their jobs and their families. They want to look good for others. They want to be loved. They want to live up to others' expectations. While all this is seemingly obvious, until it slaps you in the face in somewhere so completely foreign, sometimes while watching two sisters count the steps to the top of a temple together much like I do with my own son, you tend forget about it a little. At least I do.
I understand that everyone needs a relaxing vacation. Decompression is important for all of our health and sanity, and if it can be done with family or close friends with the chance to reconnect, all the better. And I fully get that not everyone is jacked to be up and on a subway by 5:00 a.m. on vacation to get the chance to see a tuna auction on the other side of one of the world's largest cities. (I'm a bit of a junkie with things like that.) But the tendency of many around me to only take these completely non-thinking types of vacations - the type where they check out with rum punch in their hands that's already paid for with the room, and call it travel - I fully believe they're missing it. Missing the real life and the real learning that is happening out there. Missing a learning opportunity to grow and think differently. Missing the chance to be someone different.
I know I took away innumerable things from our brief stay in Japan. It made me want to look at other people in a much softer light. It made me want to remember to forgive others more quickly. It made me want to learn more about other religions I hadn't thought much about before. It made me want to slow down the pace a bit and remember who is important in my life. It made me think of tofu as a possible real food. It made me want a little more order and beauty in my own daily life.
And I know that all that and more has changed me immeasurably. In ways I don't even know how quite yet. But that's really the beauty of it. And that is why I appreciate travel so much.
1 comment:
Well said! Thanks.
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