Most people travel during some point in their life. For some people, however, “travelling” means visiting a tourist sight within a few hours of their house. I admit that some people have interesting tourist destinations around their hometown, the world has more to offer. I learned that this past summer with an expedition through a few Caribbean locations: Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico.
I learned about worldly cultures by watching television shows and in various classes in school, but culture cannot be taught properly without first-hand experience. Now, I am not a great world traveler with my own TV show on the Travel Channel, but I don’t have to be. Anyone can have a wonderful experience. They just need to get out.I went on a cruise this past summer, which the best experience of my life so far. Most of the first day was spent exploring the ship (which was pretty much the only thing you could do). That was a wonderful experience itself. True cultural exploration came with land excursions.
First stop was Haiti. I was not able to see as much of the local life as I wanted to, but I saw enough. The shopkeepers were basically tugging on my sleeves trying to get me to buy something. I knew that they had suffered from the earthquake, but until then I did not realize how much. I put my water bottle down for a minute and was told to never do that again because it could get stolen. I went to the beach and had to watch for thieves. At lunch, I saw a barbed wire fence separating the locals from the tourists. I knew it was for our protection, but it hurt me to think of the people on the other side.
Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel were a bit more modernized, but even they had their own cultural differences. When we arrived, Jamaica had a “market day,” which was the day the locals bought their groceries. In Grand Cayman, they drive on the left side of the road, which made me flinch more than once. In Cozumel, beer is served freely to almost anyone. The differences in culture between countries are understandable, but still strange and interesting for a small town girl like me.
The world is full of wonderful people for us to meet and learn about. However, these people are not going to just walk up to us. We can only experience their culture by visiting their country. There is only one way to appreciate our globe: by getting out of our comfort zones and visiting the world. So, the next time you feel like staying inside and watching TV marathons all summer, think of all the wonders you could be experiencing instead. If you get any opportunity at all, get out and see the world.