Everyone wants to travel. Everyone wants to see the world. Everyone wants to do it for themselves, for the experience, to grow as an individual. Stop for a second and consider traveling for more than just yourself. Have you ever thought about how your travels could help the world?

Don’t let it be just a trip. Use your travels as an opportunity to learn as much as you can about other cultures and ways of life, to come to appreciate our worldwide diversity, and then spread that knowledge and appreciation with those back home. I hope you come to learn that the world is filled with wonderful, colorful differences. After all, isn't that what makes it so fun to travel?

Unfortunately, these differences are also what causes so many global disputes, disagreements, and potentially wars. There’s this concept called ethnocentrism, when a country or group of people think their ideas and their way of doing things is superior to that of other groups.

ethnocentric: (adjective) having or based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Ethnocentric thinking is all too common in the world today. Every country thinks it is better than the next. Every person thinks they are better than their neighbor. In our rapidly evolving global climate, when people around the world can connect with one another faster than ever, ethnocentrism needs to end as quickly as possible.

By traveling, you can play a part in making the world a more understanding place. Seize every opportunity you can to travel, and when you do, embrace the culture of the countries you visit. Find out what makes their way of life so different and so wonderful. Come to understand that just because something is different, that does not make it bad. You will discover that there is so much more out there than you are accustomed to.

Here in the United States, we have a couple hundred years of history; there are places out there with thousands of years of history. While we have stores and supermarkets with everything ready for purchase for the ease and convenience of living, other places have street markets, where the food is as fresh as you can get it. While we are always doing, always moving, with so much open 24/7, other countries still have a day of rest, when almost nothing is open. The beauty is, neither way is right or wrong; they’re simply different.

Other cultures and countries can teach us so much if we allow them to. You may come to realize that you were wrong about things. What may have been a progressive way of thinking back home may not make any sense in this other country’s way of life. You may learn that there are better ways of doing things. Mostly importantly, you may learn that that’s okay. You don’t always have to be right. You don’t always have to be the best. Everyone brings something to the table.

So travel, travel far and travel often. Travel with an open mind and an open heart. Come to love the places you go and the differences you discover. Come to learn that no country or culture is better than another; learn instead that each one is different, that each one is special, and that each one has something unique and wonderful to offer.

Let traveling be the first step towards something greater in this world: appreciation and understanding for other countries, for other cultures, for other people.