Travel: A Way to Understand the World

Have you ever sat back and wondered, “Why do I enjoy travelling”?

There are many reasons. Some are quite simple, but some are a little more complex.

For some people, the reason may be to distance themselves from the mundane, everyday life stresses such as work, study, relationships, general all-round responsibilities. For others, it may be to jump out of their comfort zones and wake up their senses by experiencing new sights, smells, tastes, sounds and sensations that feel foreign to them.

For myself, like many others, it is to immerse myself in new cultures and to study the many micro-cultures that exist within another society, other than my own.

Micro-cultures? Macro-cultures?

Almost every country in the world will usually have at least 1 dominant culture which dictates the way the majority will act when it comes to laws, religion and social behaviour. Some countries have a lot more open rules when it comes to both social behaviour and religion but keep the same laws for all other smaller subsets (micro-cultures) of the dominant culture (macro-culture).

Usually in ethnically diverse, or multicultural societies, the laws are there to help guide, protect, and help differing cultures live harmoniously, with minimal issues. However, some countries, such as Japan as an example, who have a mostly ethnically homogenous society will also have laws and rules that protect societies from differences between opposing social and religious beliefs. This is because Japan, although relatively ethnically homogenous, also have small subset cultures within their own society.

How does this relate to my reason to travel?

It is pure fascination, and one of the main reasons for part of my formal studies in the past.

I believe that the more you understand the world around you, the more at peace you will feel, the more acceptance you will have of others, and the better you will be at understanding WHY many people act the way they do.

Why should everyone adopt this way of thinking to travel?

The world is a massive place with so many rules, religions, and cultures that affect language, health, food, art, architecture, music, and so on.

What astounds me is that while so many countries have similarities within many of the aforementioned fields, so many people choose to separate themselves from learning about each other. This simple separation of cultures ultimately is what causes many issues between countries, and even within a single country. Although, in this day and age, land and natural resources are main reasons for conflict, there are still many conflicts being fought over religious ideologies, although some countries will use religion as a mask for their true intentions.

One can only wonder, if most people adopted a positive learning attitude, got out and travelled more to interact and celebrate the similarities of differing cultures with their fellow human-beings, we would see significantly less issues, or at least be able to ‘iron out the creases’ of this uncomfortable bed sheet called ‘cultural indifference’, to ultimately tolerate being in the same room.

Perhaps this sounds like a really complex way to think about travel, but without getting into the academic complexities of society, just keep an open mind to experiencing new people, places and surroundings. Celebrate your similarities, learn about your differences and your mind WILL transform to see everything not just for the better or worse, but for the truth.

Photo: Above the Clouds

Article written by Tony Devine

27/03/2023