Turn Off Television and Travel

I watch the news or the commercials for news, and I am appalled at the barrage of doomsday scenarios presented. The alleged scope of danger lurking at every corner makes me want to draw the blinds and sit in the dark. If I believed every thing I heard from television alone, I would give up and surrender to the horror. Sometimes you have to get out on your own, travel, and get dirty.

It is easy to make assumptions about other peoples and cultures, especially if one does not travel or meet others. Or if one’s great uncle had a bad experience “up north”, the family folklore reinforces itself for decades. I refuse to accept that everyone and everyplace are awful. Lousy service from Florida to California does not mean every one of those states is a hotbed of decay. Neglect at a store counter because the clerk chooses to talk on her cell phone does not mean that all clerks are rude. Frankly, you can spend a day with your own family and be treated with equal rudeness.

I love when people proclaim, “I would never go to (fill in the blank).” Why not? How do you know what the town, city, or country is like, if you do not go and immerse yourself? Presumptions or predispositions to some supposed problem are not the way to plunge into travel. Try to wait until people open their mouths before assuming anything. Listen, observe, and concede that there are alternate ways of doing things.

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand have all offered wonderful travel experiences. Helpful, friendly, and eager to show their country, folks from these countries came in all shapes and sizes. At times I did not know enough of their language to communicate clearly, but hand signals and smiles go a long way.