The first trip I remember taking was to South Carolina. I believe I was about 5 years old at the time. I do not remember much outside of Rainbow Row, the beach, and the Hurricane watch that we were under for the last few days of our trip. The purpose was to visit an uncle of mine. Most of my travel involves visiting family. I visit Kentucky on a regular basis, three to four times a year to visit family. Although I have never left the country, I do feel like I am well-traveled within the United States. My family visited Los Angeles a few years ago, and at times, it didn’t even feel like we were in the same country. It is amazing how you can travel somewhere that are total opposite destinations, but still in the same country. I have been to Phoenix twice with friends, and both times it felt like I was millions of miles from home, yet it was only a two hour plane ride to get there.
Huberman says she would “be exposed to new ways of doing and seeing things,” she also states that it would be good for her to get out and see the world. The water bottle incident surprised me, but I think only because I had never really thought about it. India has over 1 billion people. Just the idea of such cramped conditions would make me second guess visiting. But to the people, living in India, they likely do not see the benefit of cleaning up so they ask the question “why do it?” She goes on to state that the ultimate reason to travel is that it allows us to see the same stuff we see every day through new eyes.
The first reason that would be most important to me would be that traveling teaches you about yourself. I think anytime or any situation where you learn more about yourself is nothing but beneficial, and it could be a confidence booster. Second, would be the fact that it teaches you about your homeland. My favorite thing about traveling is comparing it to where you are from. A question I always ask myself when I travel is, “how does this compare to Nebraska?” Lastly, just the memories you gain from traveling is what is important to me. Some of the best memories I have are made travelling with my friends to different places.
The top six reasons young people should travel are that it will get you out of your comfort zone, it will build your confidence, you will develop cultural sensitivity, you can adapt to globalization, you can learn a new language, and lastly, you have infinite opportunities to network. I think these reasons are broad enough that everything can be encompassed through these. One more broad reason could simply be because traveling is fun, and fun is what life is all about.
There are many reasons that Americans have stopped traveling. Some of it has to do with money, and maybe some of it has to do with comfort. A man in the CNN article mentioned that in a large urban area like Los Angeles, that he could get a taste of almost anywhere in the world inside of his own city that is cheaper and less time consuming as actually travelling. In some cases, it is the American culture. Work, work, work. American employers do not endorse year-long breaks like other nations do, thus less time to travel to more extravagant destinations.
Some members of my dad’s side of the family were born and raised in rural Nebraska, where life was on the farm. Long workdays after school and in the summertime didn’t allow for a lot of “branching out.” When they grew up, they didn’t really know what was out there besides what they saw in the Midwest, and never had any interest in visiting anywhere, let alone traveling to foreign countries. It pushes them out of their comfort zone, and they just simply do not want to.
The Northeast and Western states, as well as Alaska have the highest percent of passport ownership, and states such as Kentucky and West Virginia have the lowest. I think this is because people who reside in urban areas are simply more likely to travel. The darker shaded states are home to big metropolises like New York City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Denver. People who live in rural areas are less likely to travel because they are more likely to be homebodies.
Submitted by Reggie Wortman on 1/24/20.