Alternative Breaks taught me how to properly travel | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

5 Ways to Stay Critical When Traveling

Traveling to places far from home can teach you so much about the world and how to be constantly critical of it and your place in it.

181
5 Ways to Stay Critical When Traveling
Ashley Lanuza

In This Article:

Los Angeles is not a glamorous place.

Nor is New York or Las Vegas a glitzy, party-lover's paradise.

In all the "must-see" tourist destinations in the United States, none are going to be purely eye-dazzling or spectacular, but rather always following a history and community silenced by popular media consumption... A rather prominent example of this is in New Orleans, Louisiana.

During my spring break, I had the opportunity to travel to New Orleans with eleven open-minded and proactive schoolmates. We were volunteers under the "Alternative Breaks" program, which sent out groups of students to areas facing a certain community condition, such as rural poverty, human trafficking, and food insecurity. In New Orleans, we were focused on "community rebuilding" after Hurricane Katrina. When I'd mention our purpose to friends and family, I would receive blank stares, followed by "Wasn't Katrina 14 years ago? What is there to do right now?" After a week of painting houses, installing fixtures, tending to gardens, and playing with kennel-bound dogs, there is still so much the community has to go through after a natural disaster. When visiting a rather large city, you should always be critical as to who, what, where and why somethings exist and others persist.

1. Visit a local museum and do some research.

Lower 9th War

Ashley Lanuza

We started our trip at the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum, a small gallery narrating the past, present, and future of the "Lower Ninth Ward," a region of New Orleans struck by poverty, racial injustice, and the most damage from Katrina. The gallery discussed the hurricane, the role of levees that broke and flooded under-resourced areas, and the delayed and poor response to Katrina and the levee by officials in the federal, state, and city level. The trip was crucial in giving context to the two worlds we were stepping in: the world of notorious partying and drinking and the world of community and activism. As we walked around the French Quarter, for instance, where people drank like there was no tomorrow and there were endless streets full of clubs and bars, it struck me that these popular areas didn't face tremendous flooding during Katrina. It survived, however, at the expense of the Lower Ninth Ward, when authorities chose saving property over people.

Visiting a local museum gives context to the community in the area. Be critical of how some places are more resourced and well-allocated than others, and why that is. It gives a lot of magnitude to the places, especially the touristy ones, you plan on visiting. Whether that is a sense of appreciation or anger at why some decisions are made at the expense of human lives, providing context to the spaces you're entering intensifies and navigates your purpose for being there.

2. Ditch the rental car and hop on the street cars. 

Street Car

Ashley Lanuza

Our trip forgoed rental cars because our housing was located close to our volunteer locations, and it seems that a situation of chance was actually a learning opportunity. On foot, we saw abandoned homes with broken roofs, damaged windows, and markings counting the dead and alive, remnants from Hurricane Katrina. We also noted blank spaces between homes that indicated where a home used to be. Public transportation gave us the opportunity to understand the racial and class makeup of the regions we were in, and unfortunately, how the difference in riders' makeup and the area we were in were correlated. Using private cars, such as Lyft or Uber, allowed us to receive lists of food recommendations preferred by locals, and conversations about the area that pushed us to be more critical.

Private cars can only keep you in your bubble, but using local fare to get around can elevate your trip and continue to contextualize your purpose for being there.

3. Give back to the community. 

Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

Ashley Lanuza

Our main purpose in visiting New Orleans was to volunteer with local community organizations such as Youth Rebuilding New Orleans, Americorps' Rebuilding New Orleans, Grow Dat Youth Farm, and Animal Rescue New Orleans. Throughout the week, we physically labored to help these community-oriented organizations for a day or two. Giving to communities that were not our own just felt right after the injustices we had learned thus far. From this trip specifically, I felt in awe at the community's effort to rebuild without the direct help of the local government. The community truly stands with each other, despite all odds.

When volunteering, always keep in mind your position as a temporary, visiting volunteer. You may or may not be wanted in the space, and there are some experiences and challenges you'll never have to face when you're there for a day or a week. However, the privilege you're in to not have to deal with the community's reminders of destruction or trauma should inspire you to contribute something, even if you're not there for very long.

4. Share! Share! Share!

Words in NOLA

Ashley Lanuza

No one is a superhuman volunteer that can fix a community's problems and make it go away. Additionally, many of us don't have the resources to just start an organization to assist the community. However, especially in this digital age, we all have the power to share what we have learned. This Odyssey article is an example of sharing what I've seen and experienced. Social media posts, photos, blogs, and vlogs are another way to share experiences and information. More importantly, make sure that these bits of information highlight the community and the people (not yourself).

If you have the capability and platform to share these narratives, you have a responsibility to do so.

5. Imagine what you saw, but somewhere else.

Home with remnants of Katrina markings

Ashley Lanuza

New Orleans is located in the prosperous United States, and though that does not invalidate the damage and trauma that occurred, it gives context to the magnitude of natural disasters in developing countries. If a natural disaster hit a location as hard as it did in the United States, imagine how even more damaging and traumatizing it has hit under-resourced countries and their people. There's an idea for your next travel destination (done with adequate research)!

During my trip, I was surprised, frustrated, and in awe of all that I learned and felt from the experience. It was an alternative type of spring break for sure, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way.

Huge thank you to Alternative Breaks at UCLA, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans, Americorps' Rebuilding New Orleans, Grow Dat Youth Farm, Tulane University, and Animal Rescue New Orleans.

And a huge thank you to my NOLA group for being a source of light, laughter, and continuous learning throughout the week. I love Y'all, CGs.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

2526
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

301722
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments