You See The World In A Different Way

I have seen some incredible natural beauty in my own home state of West Virginia. But there is a different majesty in watching a wild lion walk up to your vehicle, in seeing the rolling hills and mountains of Kenya, in seeing architecture in Florence, Italy that is nearly a thousand years of old, and all kinds of marvels of the world. Every time I travel, I see something that surprises me. You can, of course, look at many of these things in pictures, but trust me when I tell you that pictures don't do the wonders of this planet justice. You have to see it with your own eyes (though I definitely encourage you to snap several pictures along the way).

You'll Open Your Mind To Different Cultures

Growing up, I thought I was a pretty open-minded person. I was, after all, the beneficiary of parents that were in favor of progress and positive role models who thought on that same page. But in going around the world, I have seen just how little I knew and how much I still have to learn. Life in other cultures, even those that we think of as highly similar to our own, can be tremendously different. Sometimes these differences are subtle, like the huge percentage of the population in Istanbul that smokes cigarettes or the different foods that exist in each different locale. Other times, there are stronger differences, such as in the way that people treat elders or guests.

If you're like me, then you'll probably try to figure out the function that these cultural traditions serve. Eventually, I realized that our way of living is not necessarily superior, but in fact just one of many different styles the world has to offer. Those differences are often not negatives, but quite the contrary - they add to and reflect deep, rich layers of the human experience as seen by the individuals shaping it.

You'll Understand The Problems Of The World A Little More

I know not everyone wants to know the world's problems. It can be easy to forget about them, and sometimes we have to. If we didn't enjoy life, these things might not be seen as so negative in the first place.

But the problems that exist in the world are very real, and often times much more stifling and even deadly than in America. You don't have to go to a war zone to see that. I understand that this point might turn some people off to travel, and that's fair, especially if you are worried about your safety. But for me, getting a chance to understand the world a little better is preferable to ignorance of the negative.

For instance, when I went to Istanbul, Turkey, I saw mass riots break out in the wake of police brutality, only to be met with that same brutality and a hearty helping of tear gas. It wasn't what we had bargained for on the trip to one of America's few "Democratic" (questionable in Turkey these days) friends in the Middle East, the trip that I took the day after I graduated high school. But though that trip was exceedingly dangerous (and the story of it would take much more than this space), I left feeling as though I was more connected to something I would have just shrugged off on the TV screen had I stayed at home.

And through that trip, it is also worth mentioning that I came to understand and be more on guard for America's problems as well.

Food

In spite of the much deeper points I have covered this article, I would be remiss if I didn't include food. It is one of the very best parts of travel. You may wonder whether or not food is something that makes travel worth it.

Yes. It is.

The food in different cultures is something to behold, often both with your taste buds AND your tongue. You won't have pizza in America like you will have in Italy - whether you like it more or not. The little pubs you find in England are unique, of a kind that America doesn't easily duplicate. There are certainly variations on these things in the United States, but there is something special about enjoying the food of a culture with the people to whom that culture belongs. Breaking bread has always been a powerful agent of connection.