Travel's Mind-Broadening Benefits
Dear Rudy,
For some reason, travel seems to bring out my gregarious tendencies
while simultaneously suppressing my self-preservation instincts.
Right after I graduated from college in 1985, my boyfriend (now
husband) and I took a big trip to Europe. We bought round-trip
tickets to England and went all over until the money ran out. When we
were in Italy, we found that wine was actually cheaper than water.
Indeed, in Florence, they would put bottles of wine on the tables the
same way that American restaurants put out ice water. I often invited
other diners to come and enjoy it with us. "Hey! You look like nice
people. Come have a glass of wine with us!" We met a lot of
interesting people doing this (both other travelers and Italians),
and even if they weren't that interesting, we didn't know. (All that
wine, you know.)
In Israel, we found ourselves making fast friends with an Israeli
girl who worked at a local travel agency. We'd asked her about bed
and breakfasts and her response was, "Forget it! Come stay with me
instead." So, after knowing her for all of 15 minutes, we did just
that. Wound up having an incredible time -- as tourists during the
day and gadding about with young Israelis (and one Yemenite) at night.
I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything. They made me realize
that it's not about what you see. It's about getting outside your
comfort zone and broadening your perspectives to see where people are
different, and where we are the same. That's the joy of travel, right?
Still, upon arrival back in the US, I wondered, "Whose brain was I
wearing? We could have invited murderers or kidnappers to join us for
dinner -- and we thought nothing of moving in with someone who could
have been really dangerous!"
C.J.
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