what i’m grateful for #7: international travel
When I was 6 weeks old, I took my very first international trip: I was born in Trinidad & Tobago, and soon after my birth, my father took my mother and I from San Fernando, Trinidad, to State College, Pennsylvania, so my father could pursue graduate work at Penn State. Little did I know it, but this was the first of a lifetime of moves and trips all over the world. Because my father was a petroleum engineer, we moved every two years or so of my life; and once I was an adult, I didn’t stop. I may wear discount shoes and drive a beat-up car, but by gum, I try to make sure a year doesn’t go by without my leaving the country.
My passion for international travel is the usual, I suppose: I love discovering new places, new foods, new music, for sure. But it’s also more than that: it’s incredibly important for me to make connections with new people as well. When I travel, I want to spend time with locals, do what locals do, experience life as a local would. I want to connect in some way, however briefly it may be. The world keeps getting smaller, thankfully, and I want to learn as much about it as I can.
Next Thursday, I’m going to have the distinct pleasure of traveling to Ethiopia with the amazing ONE Campaign, and a brilliant group of Moms. The ONE Campaign is an advocacy organization focused on the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. This is my second trip to Africa with ONE — my first was last year to Kenya, and it was an life-changing trip, not just because I was able to see and photograph so much of Kenya’s beauty and tell the wonderful stories of success in the battles against diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; but also, selfishly, because of the people who I had the opportunity to meet — people with whom I continue to frequently communicate via email, Twitter and Facebook. And I’m so grateful that through ONE’s generosity, I was able to make friends who live, quite literally, on the other side of the planet from me.
When I return from Ethiopia, I fully anticipate that I’ll be sharing some of my favourite images and stories from my trip — but most importantly, the connections that were made. Connections for which I will be extremely grateful. I can’t wait to share them with you, and I hope you’ll enjoy them.
In the meantime, tell me: have you ever traveled internationally? If so, what was your favourite country? Why? And if you haven’t left your home country yet, where would you want to visit first?
________________
Read more from me on Bliss Your Heart and Chookooloonks
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates
Don’t miss the latest from Babble Voices – Like Us on Facebook!
I’ve been fortunate in regards to international travel (35 countries and counting). I also lived in Germany as a child and was part of a work-exchange program in the Czech Republic (one year) as an adult. My job has allowed me to do humanitarian work in Sri Lanka and Haiti.
The world can seem very unstable and angry and filled with sadness, but travel has validated my (naïve?) belief that humans are good. Who doesn’t love giving directions or recommendations to a visitor, whether that visitor is from another continent or adjacent ZIP code? Regardless if we are host or traveler, we are all mini-ambassadors.
One never completely understands their place on the planet until you’ve seen a foreign news broadcast talking about your home country.
I’ve hitch-hiked in Greece, climbed temples in Thailand and slept in a treehouse in Turkey. To pick my favorites is difficult, but I fell in love with Cambodia and Iceland. In both places, the people and the landscape were like nothing I’ve ever encountered.
Happy traveling, my friend.
“The world can seem very unstable and angry and filled with sadness, but travel has validated my (naïve?) belief that humans are good.”
Dude, ME TOO. Naive or not, this is truth for me — especially because of travel. :)
K.
[...] it? Too long, I’ll wager. When last we spoke, I was waxing poetic about why I love international travel, right before leaving for an epic journey to Ethiopia at the invitation and expense of The One [...]
[...] Parent googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-pushdown'); }); « Previous Post Next Post [...]
[...] making a difference. My fellow Babble Voices writers that are accompanying me are Asha Dornfest and Karen Walrond. Click the links to see their recent posts about traveling to [...]
If an Algorithm Finds and Defines a Trend, Is It Still Cool?