3 Things I Gained from Traveling

 Adventure is a highly sought after Experience. From the ever more popular compass tattoo, to the vast array of pictures displaying exploration on Instagram, it is increasingly evident that young adults, like myself, have the travel bug.  I expected going overseas to be somewhat life changing, but was thoroughly shocked at how radically the experience altered my thinking. Here are three things I have learned by going to other countries. 

Awareness of surroundings

In the United States, especially in Boone, I see people running after dark near King Street, moms leaving strollers with purses hanging on them by the swing set while they take their child to the slide, and most people walking about town with their heads down on their phones. Honestly, these things are acceptable here, and most likely, will not cause any harms. My first trip outside America radically changed my awareness level though. When I walked through the Entebbe Airport in Uganda I knew where every important item was, and frequently checked to make sure they were in place. I made sure all my backpack zippers were zipped to one side rather than both of them meeting at the top, so as to prevent someone from easily getting into my bag. Uganda is my favorite place on earth, but I had to use discernment and raise my sense of alertness.

Turkey is a beautiful place filled with remarkable people, but there are some serious dangers if a person throws caution to the wind. When I visited Antalya, I was completely free spirited and ready to take on the world of a new exciting culture. The team leader of my Turkey trip was a cautious man who was maybe too careful in my opinion. The only young females on the team included myself and my best friend, Aubrey. At this point in my life, I had yet to go through international security training, and felt invincible. Thankfully, Aubrey displayed a good mix of caution and adventure.

One day, we were all inside a store in a rural area and a good deal of men started to surround the exit. I was prepared to go try and make conversation. Just earlier, a man in a shop had asked me to stay and marry one of his sons. He then proceeded to tell me about his wives and children, displaying a great sense of pride in his family. I was intrigued, though I did reject the somewhat humorous proposal of marriage to his son. To me, people are beautiful, and I tend to always expect good from them if I approach a conversation or friendship with an open heart. The men now surrounding the outside of the shop we were all in did not seem to have positive motives, though I soon rejected the thought of assuming the worst. My team leader had a freak out moment, and luckily even in the midst of his panic, we all made it safely back to our bus stop, where we were told we were going to sit and wait, rather than continue exploring. I lost it. Absolutely not! I was in Turkey, and by golly, I was going to meet people. Bless the older man on the team who saw my distress and offered to walk Aubrey and I around, promising the leader her would watch out for us. That next hour was the best part of my trip, and I will always remember the joys of seeing new things.

 Looking back, I know now that if there would not have been friends to shove logic into me I would have made some poor choices. Not all people are going to be good, and it was naive to assume they would be. I now am watchful, even in the states, trusting my instinct when it tells me a bad situation might arise if I continue in whatever action I am taking.

Perspective for Life

Time is essential to get to know a different culture and form real relationships with people. I spent two months in Honduras, and recognized some common misconceptions I had about those who live outside the U.S.  Each week, while I was in Honduras, a new group of people would come down to work in villages and I would accompany them when I wasn’t helping teach kindergarten at a local school. One time, I went with a team for a full week to an isolated village that did not have electricity or running water, except through a hose. We would all take turns taking a shower with the hose and brushing our teeth with water we packed in jugs. Everyone slept on a foam pad on the floor in rooms that we packed with the maximum amount of people.

That week sticks out in my memory because I worked with kids and the young lady in charge of the children’s activates had a strict schedule for what was to take place. I had been in Honduras a good while at that point, and began to sense there were expectations for the children to act American. Not everyone wants or needs to act like we do here; there are positives and negatives in every culture. The children that week were forced to sit and listen to a teacher explain story after story and then had to be patient enough to wait for translations. When they just could not do so the lady in charge became so flustered and agitated. I explained that, though these children were very smart and capable, they may not have all experienced what Sunday school was like, which meant they would not act like children who had attended church all their lives. The children were good sports but I wanted them to know they were allowed to be kids. They were allowed to have fun and express themselves in the ways they would normally. Often times, kids would come to our lessons then later go and get shoes the team was providing, just to try them on then take them off so they could run around. Living conditions are hard there, and I wanted to take all those sweet kids home with me, but they are certainly not walking around down in the dumps. The kids in Honduras experienced a sense of community children rarely get here since the whole town knows each other. Kids would kick a soccer ball around all day, which provided much satisfaction for them.

Things here are clean. I mean, so clean you have no idea. The streets in Honduras were lined with trash and people who didn’t care about it. They just went about their normal lives, because dirty conditions were not out of the ordinary. Walking to work or school is common and many people do not have sufficient funds to regularly purchase taxi rides, yet I did not hear one person complain. This is why, when I returned to America, though I appreciated the clean streets, toilets that could actually flush the toilet paper, and my car that provides me freedom to come and go as I please, I missed being overseas.

Here in the U.S. I think of myself almost all the time. My schedule is always on my mind and I have so many things to do so as to improve myself. Here, I have to be an independent individual and community is harder for me to form. I can’t walk into my neighbor’s house randomly just to see what’s going on or meet people while waking to places, because we all drive. I do recognize how blessed I am to live in America though, even while I miss other countries. The fourth of July is my favorite holiday and I am proud of the nation I live in. I also learned I can’t expect my friends or family to relate to my experiences or understand the way I want them too. Not everyone has a desire to travel or see other cultures. This has been one of the hardest things for me to wrap my head around when I come home from traveling, but it is valuable to now know.

Fake Confidence is as Good as Real Confidence

My first trip overseas to Uganda brought me a sense of accomplishment while there and lasted when I returned home, Turkey taught me the proper amount of self-reliance while listening to the wisdom of others, and my summer internship to Honduras pushed me outside of my comfort zone. When I first got selected for the internship to Honduras, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. Anyone can survive a two-week trip, but a whole summer was a lot more commitment. I have found sometimes it is actually okay to fake it to make it. Pushing myself to choose to pursue something, though terrifying, is alright. If I convince myself to be confident even though my emotions tell me otherwise, the situation usually turns out okay. It’s like jumping out of a plane and hoping the parachute opens. I have experienced this very real hope, and when the chute opens, I can tell you, that feeling makes it worth the risk.

Life requires taking leaps of faith every now and then. It also requires dusting myself off when I completely fail so I can try again. Occasionally while overseas, I had to make quick decisions, even if I was not completely sure about them. The great thing about making a decision and it being wrong is that I have learned failure is not the end of the world. The fear of messing up is less scary now, because I have royally screwed up in the past and I am actually still alive.

Traveling has radically changed who I am as a person and how I view others. Life lessons learned while overseas have transferred to my daily life here and have better prepared me for future trips. I so appreciate the opportunities to grow while exploring and continue to see in my life and the life of other people, that traveling is one of the best ways to gain a better understanding of the world.