I truly believe that I was meant to live a nomadic life of sorts. I cannot stay in one place for too long, even if it just in my apartment. I can only sit in front of a TV or computer screen for so long before I get bored and need to leave. Even though this is a small example of my wandering lifestyle, it is an indicator of what I want my life to be like. I have always had a love of traveling and discovering new places, and I blame my father for this. My dad instilled a love for travel very early in my life, although I do not think it was intentional. My dad has been in the military for my whole life, and as a resuslt, we moved around the U.S. a lot; I did not live in one place for longer than three years until I was 11. In addition, my dad took us on a family vacation every summer. As a result, I visited every region of the United States. It is these two reasons why I think I was destined to travel.
Mark Twain once said, "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." I cannot agree more with this satement. I believe that it is only through travel that people can understand the vastness of the world around them. We are taught from a very early age that everyone is different, and these differences need to be accepted. However, it is easier to learn that if you experience it for yourself. Through no fault of their own, humans have the notion that the customs and practices from which they came are superior to others. This is not a bad thing, but it is important for people to know that the world is bigger than themselves. Travel is the best teacher of this. It allows you to experience people you never thought you would experience. However, you don't have to travel far or immerse yourslef into an entirely different culture in order to experience this. Sadly, I have never been to a non English-speaking country, so I have not been completely out of my comfort zone, although I plan to do that one day. Perhaps two of the most eye-opening experiences I have had in my travels was on a Native American reserve on a plateau in New Mexico and in England during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
The Native Americans who live on the plateau try to live life as close as possilbe to their ancestors. They lived in structures with no plumbing or air conditioning and sold hand made pottery. By touring their plateau, I got a glimpse of what life was like for these people before they were relocated to make way for our ancestors. In England, I was lucky enough to be there for the Diamond Jubilee. Even though the day-to-day life of the English are not that different from ours, the way in which they celebrate their nation's leaders and figure heads are much different. Queen Elizabeth II has been queen of England for 60+ years, and the loyalty the British people have towards her was incomprehensible to me as an American. People were camping out for days in advance just to get a decent glimpse of her ride past them on the River Thames. Call me crazy, but I do not think that Americans would ever care enough to camp out for days just to see their president, whatever his political affiliation. Instead, they camp out for days following Black Friday just to get a good deal on the latest gadget or trend.
That is why I travel; the world has so much to offer. It is people, food, religion, geopolitics, and many other aspects that create the wonderful and complex world in which we live, and we must be respectful of all the world gives us.
