Dear Friend,
I have done some traveling in my life, though much less than I would prefer. It always seems that the responsibilities that we so lightly assume one day serve to tie us down so that opportunities that arise later for a more mobile lifestyle are missed.
It is also quite true that traveling with family, and especially with young children, adds an entirely new (and often difficult) challenge.
In the traveling that I have done I have been honored to explore Argentina (with my entire family and for a month), Costa Rica (five times; once with my oldest son), the Canadian Maritimes (for about two weeks and with the whole gang), Japan (for ten days when I was a teenager), the Bahamas (by sailboat as crew, and later by cruise ship with my oldest daughter), and Bermuda (for ten days for our honeymoon – no kids yet). My wife and I have also driven across large portions of the US several times dragging a travel trailer and four screaming kids. That’s an interesting experience.
In all of this traveling the one thing that impacted me most was not the scenery (though some was breathtaking), or the cultural attractions (though many were fascinating), or the entertainment. The one thing that struck me most in my travels, and which I consider most significant when I discern the value of a travel visit, is the attitude of the people in the places I visit.
We all know that individuals vary, and that mean people and nice people inhabit all parts of our globe. However I have found that some cultures have a built-in character that sets them apart.
Great philosophers of history often counseled that to fail to travel in life was to fail to understand the world. Some people today claim that this was a view true for a world where books were extremely rare and modern communications inconceivable. Today online tools like Twitter allow us to chat on an intimate level with folks on the other side of the planet, in real time. In fact, with the incredible power of the Web and media to inform us of the joys and sorrows around the world, physical travel seems almost an extravagant luxury.
I am a huge believer in the virtual power of the Internet and modern media. If I had not traveled as I have I would probably be among those who poo-poo the importance of physical travel. However I have traveled, and I have learned that our eyes and our brain’s frontal lobe are not the only tools that human beings utilize to sense the significance of a place, or a people.
We are creatures who have existed for for many thousands or even millions of years and who have evolved to communicate and experience the world with every sense we have. Until our technology allows unfettered, unedited access for all of our senses to anyplace we want to experience, we will need to travel with our bodies to fully understand it. Even more significantly, when traveling with others, the complexities of your relationships with each of those people and between those people will color the way in which you consider what your senses tell you about a place and a people. Therefore, you can travel to the same place, and see the same people, many times, but if you bring different travel partners each time then each travel experience will be unique.
My children are growing up fast. I could do as my dad had to do, and work long hours in an office Monday through Saturday and rest my tired bones on Sunday, just so I could take my family to Disney a few times. Or, I can wield every new technology I can get my hands on to design a life and a lifestyle for my family that allows us to experience as much of our world and its people as possible before my kids go off and begin to explore their own lives.
I choose to live this way. Writer Tim Ferris calls it a “Self Directed Life.” I like that phrase. That’s the life I’m gonna live. How about you?
All the best,
Hugh
