Travel Quote…Everyone is Wrong
This quote is so true. I am a traveler in a non travelling family. My parents and brother do not find joy in exploring overseas foreign countries, with the exception of New Zealand and perhaps the islands of the Pacific. They are even less excited about the idea of flying and especially long haul flights.
Every time I announce where I am heading off to next (Cambodia! Vietnam! Croatia! Borneo! Bolivia! Samoa!) my mum has a mini heart attack and my brother just looks at me bewildered. I then get loving parental, but worried advice. I think my parents still think of places as being the same as they may have been when they were young, places that were less explored and possibly, dangerous. Like so many ideas, the less you understand the more you fear it. I am constantly reassuring them that everything is going to be ok, and that these countries are now set up for tourism, and are a lot safer than they think).
But those that travel, and travel often, and travel to foreign places (I mean what is foreign these days anyway?) realise that people are the same everywhere. That places that are different are also similar. No matter religion, race, wealth. And those that travel and get off the beaten path to truly discover things, realise that yes, they were wrong about so many countries. About simple things, such as food, weather, transport. But also wrong about the big ideas, such as worship, family, customs and government.
I love travel for the sheer education it gives me. For the tolerance and acceptance it has built in me of others. For the understanding I get from seeing how people really live. For making me think twice about my life, my country, my attitude.
Thank you travel for making me realise I am wrong about so many things. I am glad I was.
