“The great art of learning is to understand but little at a time.” — John Locke
I am but a mere onlooker to the societies I find myself in, observing through my narrow and biased lens. It’s like being an astronaut and only being able to see the surface of an unknown planet from afar, from the safety of the vessel. There is always more than meets the eye, and more nuances than can ever be noticed in such a short time, especially considering my complete lack of the local languages. However, we English speakers are quite privileged due to our mother tongue conveniently serving as the modern lingua franca. This allows us to communicate (at least basically) with many others from around the world; we shouldn’t take this for granted.
Alas, there is still only so much I can absorb and attempt to convey. I am only able to experience a filtered and restricted version of reality. I want to fully acknowledge these limiting factors.
With that being said, there is still importance in expressing my experiences/observations and having them serve as a record. There is something uniquely valuable about attempting to capture the essence of a place or experience for that moment, as there will be no other moment like it. The insights captured in these moments are unique and should be shared with the world. Everyone has a unique view of reality and how they experience events; all of our insights are worthy of being shared across the stream of human consciousness.
Among all of its negative implications, this is one of the most powerful things about the internet of today. These posts will likely be accessible long after I am gone. They will serve as a record of human experience and perhaps can provide insight or will be interesting and/or valuable to someone in the future. If only one person reads this and decides to travel, step out of their comfort zone in some way, dissolves their ignorance about other cultures, expands their mind, or if it serves as an inspiration to take action on something they are passionate about, I think that makes these writings worthwhile.
I want to highlight the importance of critical thinking and in examining foreign societies while in turn examining your own. Through cross-cultural communication and societal immersion, we can break down barriers and stereotypes that hinder our progression as the collective human race. While cultural factors do separate us, through immersive travel we can understand that our similarities are much more numerous and powerful than anything that separates us.
And above all, stay curious and keep an open mind. You’d be surprised where this can take you.
Hello there! 