What Traveling Means to Me.....

Travel. It is the one way a person can really get to know them self. One of the healthiest ways to understand one’s self and all its abilities and limitations is to go to some place that is different from what we are used to. It will challenge the traveler to navigate through the streets of his destination and sometimes the murky waters of the soul. There is nothing like travel. It is always an experience that one will always learn something from, it is the ultimate teacher. It gives each traveler the gift of a new perspective and new understanding about the world. It can be at once awesome, frustrating, humbling and inspiring. Sometimes our journeys do not lead us where we want to go, but where we are supposed to go. We are given the opportunity every time we travel to learn the lessons about life that we can learn in no other classroom but the vast world, and all its people, animals and plants have to teach us.
I am a traveler and also an aspiring traveler. I have been many places and seen many things and it has enriched my life in a way not possible through any other modality. But, I know there is so much more to learn and see and gain perspective on. Life is a journey, and each person’s journey is enriched by the people we meet, the places we go and our own experiences.
I have a degree in Anthropology and Native American Studies from Hampshire College, in Amherst, MA. In learning about other cultures, especially ones in our own country, that are so misunderstood, I realized that you can learn so much by putting yourself there, with the people and on the land. Many Americans, unfortunately, are misinformed about other countries in the world, because all we see on the news is the bad parts – the poverty, the dangers, the misfortune. However, I firmly believe that if people were actually to go to those places, interact with the people there, eat the food, walk on land, see the art and just BE in that space, that perspectives are certain to change.

(For more information and photos, please visit my Travel Blog: www.travelcloseup.com)