Whether you’re old, young, poor or rich, traveling to different countries across the world is a must. It is so cliché nowadays to see an article written on the topic of travel (#wanderlust). There are hundreds of Instagram accounts, Facebook pages and other social media accounts dedicated to the specific topic of travel. There are hundreds of websites and articles that explain in vivid detail just how grateful people are for certain experiences that they have gained by exploring the world. This is not one of those articles. The purpose of this series of articles is to explain why traveling is literally a necessity for one to become a well-rounded human being.
From the time we were kids, the culture we are born into is engrained into the deepest levels of our subconscious. We are taught to view different ideologies, cultures, religions, social politics and governments of the world as a direct comparison to our own and through a subconscious lens that is inherently biased to our own culture. Our subconscious dictates how we process data and stimuli around us. What this means is that we are completely and utterly “stuck in our own worlds,” as adults love to tell us younger folk. We, as functioning members of different cultures, are incapable of totally grasping the ways of different cultures in a sense that would appear normal to us. Whatever we see and process from different cultures is first sifted through this subconscious lens and sorted into something that makes sense to us. Thus, when it comes to travel, only seeking to travel for the experience, and to not go on to process, analyze and understand this experience, is a complete waste of intellectual potential.
Speaking for myself as a person that was born and raised in the United States, what I thought that I would experience when traveling to a different country was merely a sliver of what actually would happen to myself as a person. Have you ever come across an idea or concept that totally baffles you, and you love it because of that? For example, to me, the concept of infinity, the minuteness of the earth in comparison to the universe and parallel universes, have always ignited interest within me, yet I have no idea how to wrap my mind around it. This is similar to the initial shock one receives, if they are truly paying attention, when they step foot into another country. It should never be just about seeing the sights and eating the food, but about experiencing to understand the culture. In my opinion, developing the ability to understand something that we are almost incapable of understanding objectively, broadening one’s mental capacity for culture and becoming a more complete person are the true goals of travel.
