Friday 23 December 2011

The Value of Travel

I recently had an interesting conversation with a young but well educated, professional Ghanaian man that both troubled and inspired me. Upon hearing about my extensive recent travels, he asked me, quite simply, 'Why? Why do you want to go to so many places?' While I was pondering how best to answer this huge questions, he went on to explain the issues he has with people like me (people who travel, in other words).
'People like you, you come to a place, and you meet people, and you have an impact on those people. And then you just leave, and you don't consider this impact you've had and the effect that your leaving can have on the people you've met. You just leave. It's not right.'
I have now been travelling for the last five months. During this time I travelled Europe for 2 months as a tourist and had countless fun-filled experiences in the 21 countries I visited. I have also lived in Ghana for three months as both a volunteer and an intern, but made the most of my time by travelling around the country on weekends. This has included a week-long trip to neighbouring Togo. Needless to say, I've packed a lot into the last few months and seen and experienced a lot.
So when this man asked me 'why?' - not because he was interested in my personal motivations, but because he honestly didn't understand why anyone would want to see a country other than their own - it took me a while to gather my thoughts.
I have never before been asked this. Sure, people have asked why I have chosen particular places, but never why I generally have a desire to travel. It's a difficult question because the desire to travel has always been second nature for me, as it is for lots of my family and friends. It is more common for me to ask someone why they do NOT want to travel, as this is a more foreign concept.
I can now identify that before I left Australia I wanted to travel for the following reasons: I wanted to see the places I had learnt about in the course of my studies, I wanted to experience different cultures and I wanted to learn about the people, the history and way of life in the exotic places I would be visiting. I knew that while being interesting in their own rights, these things would all help me greatly in my studies of journalism and international relations and my (hopeful) career in these fields.
As corny as it sounds, I can admit that I also wanted to travel because there are just some things that have to be done in life. A night at the Moulin Roge, climbing the Eiffel Tower and shopping on the Champs Elysees, and that's just Paris (can you tell I spend too much time watching Hollywood films?). I'm also ashamed to say food was a motivating factor - baguettes and chocolate croissants in France; pizza, pasta and gelati in Italy (thanks, Eat, Pray, Love); yiros in Greece; chocolate in Switzerland and Belgium... the mouth watering list goes on.
Now, at the end of my travels, I can see that while I can tick the box for each of the these things I hoped to achieve, I have infact gained much more. People told me that in the course of my travels I would change, and I would come back a different person. I thought they were wrong; there was nothing wrong with me, nothing I wanted to change. I was not naive, I knew what to expect, so I didn't see how it could change who I was.
And I maintain this. I'm still the same, but I have learnt a lot about myself. Again, I know this sounds corny, but it's hard to be more specific. There is something about living in and immersing yourself in a different culture like that in Ghana which can teach you a lot about your own beliefs and about the resilience of your character. It's much more than simply appreciating what you have at home, a common assumption of people travelling to developing or Third World countries.
But it's the people I've met throughout my journey that have made my experience so memorable, both the kind, welcoming locals and other like-minded travellers. So I guess in one way, the Ghanaian man who asked me 'why?' was correct. Saying goodbye to the people you meet along the way, knowing you may never see them again because they live on the other side of the world, is by far the worst part of travelling. It sucks. But saying goodbye and moving onto the next place is all part of travelling and part of life. I wouldn't give up a second of my travel or forsake meeting any of the people I have, just to avoid saying goodbye.
In another respect, this man was far from the mark. In my travels so far, I have not just left the people I have met without a second thought. When I leave Ghana, I do not plan to simply leave. It would be impossible because the people I have met have had just as much impact on me as I have had on them. Leaving is difficult, but it's a part of travel.
I realise that I'm very fortunate to have travelled the places I have, but it has occurred to me that not everyone appreciates the value of it. It would be unfortunate to not experience this for fear of leaving.

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