I have been traveling since I was two years old. Since most of my relatives live in Ireland--my country of birth--traveling to the land of the leprechauns used to be a yearly summer tradition for me. Especially when my sister and I were younger, traveling to visit my relatives in Ireland would be the highlight of the year--except for our birthdays, of course.
When I began traveling to Ireland, I always looked at traveling to my country of birth as a fun, adventurous, and warming trek. It was not only exciting because I was able to visit the majority of my relatives, but also because I had the opportunity to explore the vast array of attractions that Ireland has to offer. For example, visiting Blarney Castle was a great experience for me. Additionally, traveling the countryside of Dingle and Cork would be an eye-opening adventure. Essentially, traveling to Ireland was the best vacation I could ask for.
As I went into my teenage years, my frequent trips to Ireland became occasional. Particularly, my trips became less frequent for financial reasons. And as the trips became less and less frequent as I grew up, I began to feel more humble about traveling to Ireland when I had the opportunity to do so. Similar to how I begin to appreciate my mother's cooking when I go to a far away camp, I began to appreciate my trips to Ireland more as they became rarer.
However, not only did I become more appreciative, but my perspective on traveling changed as well. I began to really think hard about the importance of exposing myself to new environments, people, and cultures. Especially in an extremely interconnected global society, the benefit(s) of venturing out into new territories is essential to not only the advancement of the human race, but also imperative to the broadening of the mind.
Imagine a world where everyone kept to themselves. Imagine, just for a moment, that every single person did not expose themselves to anyone, or anything, beyond the boundaries of the town they lived in? If this scenario of isolation were to happen, many of the fundamental principles, laws, institutions, and values of mankind would not exist. Moreover, in the event that a massive problem, that needed the action of a global coalition, were to arise, nothing would happen.
The main purpose of this article is not to detail my vacations to Ireland, or propose a scary hypothetical world communication disaster. Rather, it is my goal to make that case that traveling is imperative to the functioning, well-being, flourishing, and advancement of mankind. And traveling to Ireland helped me understand this important relationship.
