Get Out

This little essay is going to be different than my typical "reflections" posts that I do at the end of my trips because we set foot in four very different countries. To discuss them all at length and compare and contrast would require a novel and I don't want to lose one of my three readers. To make the situation more ridiculous, two of the countries (Japan and Austria) were treated as extended "layovers." We flew to Japan because it is an easy flight for us from LAX. I understand how odd I sound by describing a 12 hour flight to another continent as "easy," but I realize that I am a very different type of traveler. This context is important because I am about to be very biased in what follows.

A few hours after returning home from our two week journey around the world, I went on facebook and saw that internet champion George Takei had posted an article from the Huffington Post or some other nominal journalism website. It was titled something along the lines of, "Stop pretending everyone can travel." The timing struck me as uncanny. I had not yet unpacked and I had the "day on me" from 17 hours of flying. Needless to say, I disagreed with the article for many reasons. They argued that people might not be healthy or are taking care of someone close to them who isn't healthy. Ok, fair enough. I think when people are saying anyone can travel, it's implied that they realize there are extenuating circumstances that preclude one from venturing far from home. However, other reasons mentioned were work environment and financial issues. I understand what they are trying to say . . . to a point. Yet, the writer ultimately failed to gain my empathy because I saw numerous flaws in their arguments.

One, their arguments were seemingly more in response to sidebar spam preaching that everyone should quit their job and travel the world for a year than legitimate urges for people to travel. They acted under the assumption that everyone pictures travel as overwater bungalows in the south pacific. We can blame the social media generation because weasels like me routinely post pictures to facebook or instagram as if to say, "Look at meeeeee!!!" I didn't post pictures of myself getting groped patted down by security at Indira Gandhi International Airport because these aspects of traveling aren't as sexy as a black-and-white artsy diagonal photo of the Eiffel Tower.

If you haven't already surmised, I genuinely do believe that everyone should travel and regardless of your job or life situation, you have the ability to travel. It may not be to Bora Bora, but you can, and should travel. This could mean going from Atlanta to Chattanooga or La Crosse to Minneapolis. The distance is not what's important. The important thing, from my perspective, is well . . . gaining perspective. In my youth, we would often drive from Appleton to Milwaukee, a mere hour and a half drive, but the two cities are very different. I liked how Milwaukee had a lot more to see and do. A spy-themed restaurant! I think these little sidetrips as a kid made me very aware of what my smaller city was lacking. And as soon as I graduated high school, I immediately got out and never looked back. So my point? It's ok to start small.

Now that we've cleared that up, I bring your attention to false issue number two: "There's no time! I have to work!" Don't be ridiculous. Everyone works. Certain jobs are more flexible than others, but if people want to travel, they will. If someone is looking for an excuse to stay put, they will find it. My previous job routinely sent out emails urging people to take their vacation days because most people had maxed them out and it was hurting the bottom line. So part of the issue is a cultural problem in the United States that fosters a belief that we must be working all the time. Sick days are for slackers! We often view France as a weak society due to their generous amount of paid time off and holidays, yet that hasn't prevented them from being the world's sixth largest economy. And their quality of life is arguably better. They're certainly a lot healthier than the fatties we've become in America. Ok, so culturally we are workaholics, we harbor unrealistic expectations of what traveling entails, and we look for excuses to not leave our comfort zone . . . is that everything?

Traveling costs money, but no worse than any other excursions you may do in your daily life. Do you watch a lot of movies in the theater? Go out for drinks with friends or coworkers? Have kids? See, that's where you've gone wrong. You musn't have kids. They're the ones trying to convince you to take them on $5,000 trips to Disneyland, and that's not including the Elsa pillow, Buzz Lightyear action figure, and remote control monorail train kit that they tricked you into buying. Sometimes they're cute and manipulate you. You can't allow it. It's best just to ignore them. It comes down to priorities. Travel for most tends to be something that gets relegated to the, "Want to, but maybe in a year or two" pile. Let me put this out there...that ideal time may never come. Work schedules will conflict. Someone gets sick. Your child gets expelled from school. See? You musn't have kids. Point being, your excuses are invalid. You won't get fired for taking vacation. Nobody is ever 100% on vacation. I spent two weeks in France with chronic asthma when I was 13. I ended up in the American hospital in Paris while away. Regrets? I've had a few, but then again...too few to mention. I would have had much greater regrets if I hadn't gone at all.

And I truly believe it is your duty as an American to travel. We are at a time in our nation's history where we understand each other less and less. The two-americas trope is alive and well. I would say my circle of friends is fairly insular. At a recent gathering, we were discussing the election and one of them brought up that we had all had the fortune to have traveled. One even served in the Peace Corps in Kenya. They remarked on how traveling gives us perspective on our own country. We appreciate what we have back home, but also learn that there are different ways of solving problems abroad -- sometimes maybe superior to our own. Consider paid maternity (and paternity) leave. India recently passed a bill guaranteeing 26 weeks. USA? Zero.


Again, the point I'm trying to drive home is perspective. A sheltered life leads to naive and unrealistic world views. I have read countless stories of small town governments convinced that terrorists are going to attack them. I recall after 9/11, people in my own area felt that an attack on a nuclear plant in Two Rivers, Wisconsin was a likely followup target. I spent four years in D.C. living within a couple blocks of probably 7 of the top 10 terrorist targets, but I was more concerned about where to buy beer on Sundays.

Every once in a while, the terrorists get lucky and succeed in disrupting the day-to-day in a city like Istanbul, Boston, or Berlin. France has seen a 15% downturn in tourism over the past year thanks to attacks in Paris and Nice. Remember when I said people will look for any excuse not to travel? There you have it. As much as the 24 hour news cycle likes to paint these events as an attack on western civilization and all other kinds of scary hyperbole, the odds of being attacked by terrorists are infinitesimally small. Terrorism, as strange as this may sound, is an irrational fear like flying in an airplane. Sure, maybe it can kill you. But you have a better chance of getting killed by cigarettes or some kind of fluke accident like walking casually down the street and being crushed by a baby grand piano. See, that should be motivation to travel -- the scary uncertainty of life. 2016 has already claimed many of our heroes, many without warning, from John Glenn to Gene Wilder, Prince to David Bowie, Nancy Reagan to Muhammad Ali, Anton Yelchin, George Michael, I could go on for days... Carrie Fisher just suffered a heart attack. Not Princess Leia!

Nobody wants to be on their deathbed and mutter, "...And I never got to see the world's largest rocking chair!" X-eyes follow shortly thereafter. I doubt many people are dying and think to themselves, "I should have spent more time at work."In a country where we barely understand each other, traveling is more important than ever. We all surround ourselves with people who share our world view and read news from sources that support our own beliefs, even if it isn't entirely accurate. I am not immune to this, but I also get my news from The Onion. It's easy to get trapped in a bubble. Get out of that bubble. Meet some people who think differently than you.

Having just returned from an ambitious voyage around the world where we brushed our teeth with bottled water and finished each meal with a pepto bismol chaser, I cannot expect everyone to be on board with this type of "vacation." But you have to start somewhere. And it would be preferable to go somewhere that isn't a carbon copy of your own life. Get out there. Explore. Experience something new. Taste something new. Ask what did I just eat? Take a pepto bismol. Learn. Rinse. Repeat. We've been building up our walls long enough.