Travel Changes
Before I could walk I found myself lying in my mother’s arms
in a seat miles above the earth. I was on my first airplane;
little did I know it was far from the last. She is from
England and we traveled there quite a bit when I was a kid. I
got to know and understand the English culture and its people
as I grew older. I made many friends and saw family I would
have never even met if I didn’t take that six hour plane ride
every couple of years. It made me aware that America isn’t the
only country on this earth; there are loads of different kinds
of people and different customs.
I believe in travel. I believe travel adds many good
qualities to one’s life- confidence, maturity and respect.
After I graduated high school my mom took me on a
month long trip around Europe. During this trip we went
through many foreign lands, full of many strange languages I
didn’t understand. When you’re an 18 year old boy trying to
find your train and can’t speak a lick of Polish you are
forced to either gain confidence in yourself and your
abilities or give up and never find your way home. I chose to
face the task head on, deciphering strange signs and trying to
communicate with people I could barely understand. I learned
the importance of will power. I learned you can’t be scared of
challenges no matter how difficult they seem to you at the
time.
I also found out that a good portion of people are
genuinely friendly and surprisingly do like to try and
communicate with you. At one point in my trip I found myself
on a train standing in front of a window staring out with a
cigarette between my lips. A man walked up and said something
I couldn’t understand, I looked to his hands and realized he
needed a light. After I lit his smoke we proceeded to have one
of my fondest conversations in my life. We talked for about an
hour yet all we really only figured out from each other was
our names and destinations. It just amazed me how two
different people with completely different languages can find
a way to communicate with each other even if just in the most
basic form of conversation. It gave me hope that people in
this world really aren’t that much different, that we maybe
can one day find a way to make peace work.
When traveling you learn about many different
cultures, even if just traveling from state to state. You can
see a difference even in the way people drive or eat. People
have many different norms and values. Travel helps you learn
to respect and try to understand these differences. I believe
travel allows you to learn not only other people and there
differences, but it also helps you learn who you are. It
teaches you to be confident in yourself and gives you an open,
understanding mind. I believe in travel.