Gettin’ Carried Away

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow, one of the co-hosts of TBEX ‘09, I stumbled upon a career managing blog that recently featured a post about travel. Specifically, writer Penelope Trunk articulates why she thinks travel is a waste of time. (GASP! I know…) My plan here is to go through each of her four points as to why “the benefits of travel are largely delusional” and explain why I believe that people should travel.

1. “There are more effective ways to try new things.”

Trunk claims that experiencing something for just one week won’t make as big of an impact on your life as much as doing something regularly, each week. She compares visiting Africa for a week to taking a walk through your local forest preserve once a week. How can you have a deeper sense of how the foliage grows and how you respond?

A forest preserve in America is not a jungle in Africa. Depending on where you are, forest trees and jungle trees battle different elements. I’d think that forest trees fair better against squirrels and deer than jungle trees, which are raided by monkeys and snakes. And what about the weather? In any sense, it’s good to compare. And a visit to Africa will allow you to put a given jungle against your local forest preserve.

Moving to a different location now, as for me, my three days in Boston gave me a lot of new insights into my own life. One of them has to do with my palate. I never liked fish. So while I was in Boston, I decided to eat at a well-known restaurant and try several different kinds of fish. And after sampling some of the freshest seafood in the country, I know that I don’t like fish. Any kind of fish, period. I’m also not a big fan of hot dogs. If I’m at a Blackhawks or White Sox game, you won’t ever see me eating a hot dog. I think the hot dogs at U.S. Cellular Field and the United Center ar e rubbery and gross. However, I wanted to try a famous Fenway Frank when I went to the Red Sox game. They were so good, I had three of them. And I honestly want to go back to Boston again (during baseball season only) just so I can eat one.

2. “Cultural differences are superficial. Economic differences matter.”

You absolutely do need to travel to learn about different cultures, and even about other economies. While it is true that the United States is a melting pot of different religions, politics, customs and economic classes, learning about any of these things requires an understanding beyond just observing people.

Why are there cultural differences? Why are there economical differences? Trunk refers to Frans Johansson saying that “race is not a indicator of diversity any more-background is.” And that is why I believe you can’t just look to the people for cultural and economic understanding. Trunk’s South African roommate was raised in a wealthy Jewish household, just like her. Her French hosts’ cousins were “just like her.” But why?

Perhaps her South African roommate was just like her (a rich, white Jewish girl) because she was living in the United States. The Jews settled in South Africa over 300 years ago. And while South Africa boasts the most Jewish people in all of Africa, many of them are moving to the U.S. (and other countries) for economic reasons. What is Trunk’s roommate’s family background? When did they come over to the U.S.? If poor South African Jews become well-off in the U.S., how could you possibly understand their life in South Africa unless you visit the region?

And how were these French people just like Trunk? Sure, I’ve met foreigners who are just like me. In London, I drank at the pub and ate greasy Chinese food with some British people. We like the same music, we wear the same clothing brands. But when we got to talking about education, they didn’t understand my educational background.

For example, during my last two years of high school, I studied between six and seven subjects each year. But my friends? They studied three or four subjects for their A levels. I was still a bit confused, so one of my new friends showed me old textbooks and even took me by a British school. I won’t get into an explanation of the British school system, but my point is, how can you fully understand this if you don’t actually talk to a British person in England? Sure, you can read about it in a text book, but why would you want to? What would prompt you?

If I didn’t go to London, I wouldn’t know (or care to know) about the English school system. I think it’s sad if people just want to live their own lives and not experience other cultures. I mean, what happens if you interact with a foreign client while working at your job? If you don’t know the person’s culture, you might offend them. It may even cost you your job. And as far as not leaving the U.S. to find out about other cultures? I had a professor (at my American college) who was British. It never dawned on me to ask about his educational background and he never offered the information.

3. “People who love their lives don’t leave.”

Structure doesn’t bring joy to every person’s life. Take Nomadic Matt. He left the 9-5, Monday-Friday cubicle life to travel the world. And that’s what makes him happy. And how about Heather Poole? She’s a flight attendant, a writer, an obvious avid traveler and she’s married! And finally, I have great part-time jobs, I’m super close with my family and I’ve been in the best relationship for over a year. Yet, I still travel. Sometimes, I even go on trips with my family, my coworkers or my significant other. Why? Because there is a whole world out there to see.

And before anyone is quick to judge, I don’t travel because my life at home is unfulfilling. I travel because I want to complement my home life. Even if you stay home and explore your home city, you’re still, in fact, traveling. Just because you leave the state or the country doesn’t mean you don’t love your life any less. For me, I want to see new places, try new foods, meet new people, etc. I mean, I’d much rather eat a Philly Cheese Steak IN Philadelphia than at some diner in Chicago. And I’d rather speak to an old Irishman in a Cork pub instead of at the Americanized Cork & Kerry bar near my house.

4. “Travel is not the time to do deep thinking.”

While I actually agree with Trunk that running away doesn’t always solve your problems, I don’t believe that traveling is not the time to do some deep thinking. It may sound trite to some of you when you hear a person say, “I just want to find myself” as a reason for travel. However, I really think it’s a valid reason.

After my first year of college, I was at a loss. My grades were poor, I was unhappy with the school I chose to attend and I had no idea where my life was going. I transferred to a school closer to my home, changed my major twice and I was still unhappy and confused. I then received an invitation in the mail from New York University to apply for their brand-new, study abroad-like program called Spring In New York. In a nutshell, you spend one semester in NYC. Having been accepted into NYU a year prior to this, and turning them down because tuition was so expensive, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to get out of Chicago for a little while and figure out my life.

While living in New York, I truly lived. I ventured out to every borough and explored the city every day for three months (I took out a month’s worth of time for sleeping and studying). During my last few weeks, I joined a dance class and I began writing every single day. I even contacted my home university and asked how I could join the student newspaper. Within a few days, I had set up an interview with the Editor-In-Chief for the day after I was to return to Chicago.

At 19 years old, during my last two weeks in New York City, I discovered that I’m a city girl, I’m a closet hip-hop dancer and I’m a writer. Who knows what would have happened had I stayed in Chicago? I might not even have this blog. With the path I was on, I could be a police officer or a history teacher right now. And the thought of having either career makes me cringe.

So.. do I think traveling is a waste of time? Obviously not. If you don’t like to travel, you’ll probably think otherwise. I really think that this claim of travel being a waste of time is more of a personal preference rather than an argument about cultural stimulation, economic understanding and trying new things.