I travel to learn about the cultures and ways of life of other countries. When I travel, I hope to get a meaningful perspective of how other people throughout the world live daily. Traveling allows me to see and experience new things that I otherwise would have no way of experiencing for myself. Traveling can also provide me with the opportunity to teach my family and friends about places that they may never in their lives get to visit. When I visit other countries, it makes it so that others ask me about my experience and I can share with them my knowledge of the ways of life that I learned about. Some of these reasons allign with what Iyer talks about. He says that we travel to learn more about the world than we can from home. I also travel to learn about the cultures of other countries, something that can't be done by just staying put. Iyer also says that we are transporters, needing to transfer our experiences between countries. This is something I also do; I travel to tell others about the things that I learn and see when I am travelling. And finally, I travel also to get away from everything at home, in a way to "start over." Iyer says that we also travel to leave beliefs and certainties at home. Sometimes I feel I just need a break and travelling provides this outlet that I need.
Iyer says that travel's value comes from fear. I believe that when Iyer says this, he is showing that the core of travel originates in uncertainty and fear. If someone simply travels to the same place over and over and develops a sense of familiarity, it no longer is an adventure. When you travel to a new place, there will always be a sense of fear and not knowing what you should do. But this is what gives travel its luster and adventurous spirit. When you have fear of a new place, you are more open to everything in an effort to learn more and become less fearful. The original fear provides a basis to want to learn more about where you are. This could relate to our journey because we will all be going to a new place, one that we are unsure of what exactly to expect. This fearfulness makes it so that everything we see will be a great experience because we do not know what will happen. Being in a new place like Australia will allow all of us to experience the fearfulness that gives travel its value.
| Sun setting on the Australian Outback |
I believe that travelers have a responsibility to share their knowledge and experience. By doing so, we can prevent crude stereotypes. If people travel to other countries and see the wonders that exist there, then when they return and tell others what it's really like, people will be less inclined to make generalizations that are damaging to the other regions. Travelers should share their experiences so that others may experience, in their own way, a small taste of what the journey was like. This also allows the traveler to partially begin to "open the new eyes" for those who didn't get a first-hand experience during the journey. The traveler should also share their knowledge of their own country with the people they meet while on the journey. This allows for culture to be shared throughout the entire world and for everyone to have a more accepting view of other cultures. Travelers do have the responsibility to act as carrier pigeons and share their experiences.
"Travel spins us round in two ways at once: It shows us the sights and values and issues that we might ordinarily ignore; but it also, and more deeply, shows us all the parts of ourselves that might otherwise grow rusty." This is probably my favorite quote in Iyer's writing. I chose this quote because it sums up perhaps the best things that travelling allows us to do. It says that travelling shows us things that we may normally ignore, which I find to be extremely true. Everything that happens in other countries is easily passed on as insignificant if we are not the ones who have to experience it. But when we travel to other countries and experience their values and issues, we get a first hand experience and are granted a new sense of understanding. This quote also explains how travelling helps us individually. When we travel to new places, new parts of us are revealed; we are shown how we adapt to foreign atmospheres. We are shown how we are able to handle being foreigners rather than natives. And we are shown what inner strength we possess to get through times that may seem adverse. These parts of us are revealed when we travel to new places, and this quote shows me exactly what travel can do for me. This quote is my favorite in the entire reading because it prepares me for the changes that I will undoubtedly experience.
