Hey folks! Throughout this post I want to explore three crucial reasons why traveling might be and or might not be for you. Thank you for reading and consider subscribing to my blog to get the latest blog updates and much more. Let’s get straight into it!
1st reason why traveling might be for you is if you are open to visiting a foreign place (i.e. neighborhood, town, city, country) among lots of other environments. For me, the answer is obvi yes, traveling is for me duh! But I wasn’t always this headstrong about traveling, however, throughout the years of hosting foreigners, reading various books based on foreign cultures (subcultures) /places that varied from my Haitian-American cultures, + documentaries I’ve consumed in addition to me having my master’s degree in International Relations combined have all helped me cultivate this passion to travel and the love of traveling.
1st reason why traveling might not be for you is if you are not comfortable going out of your comfort zone(s) (i.e. your neighborhood/city/ block). It isn’t a bad thing; it may just be that you might have to meet a kind and interesting foreigner, or you’d have to be exposed to their culture in another manner. There are hundreds of ways to expose yourself to the idea of traveling without leaving your comfort zone(s). One way to do this is by subscribing to a traveling magazine, reading travel blogs, searching various travel hashtags on IG, FB, Snap and a visit to Dr. Google images lol! Don’t sweat it, if you’d like to travel but haven’t mustered the courage to do it. It takes time, so be true to yourself and go at your own pace.
2nd reason why traveling might be for you is if you’re restless, like to take calculated realistic risks, and you desire adventures. Lols! I know that some of these can be applied to just about anything like learning to bake sourdough bread or learning to skateboard. Ahah! But yes, at least for me I enjoy taking risks, I enjoy and seek adventures, and I am a naturally restless person. I am not a psychologist and am just speaking from my experiences and from my own perspective. Whenever I would meet travelers while traveling somewhere, I would generally see young people sometimes older people (all genders), who are determined to learn/ explore something new, they would often times be optimistic and take various risks (everyone is different and so are their risk tolerance).
2nd reason why traveling might not be for you if you are not restless, dislike taking risks, and you don’t desire adventures and like a safe, predictable life. I’ve also occasionally met some travelers who were still tourist minded (click here to read the diff between a travelers and tourists). They would stick to the overly priced tourist areas; they would stay in their hotels/ airbnb and would not explore the new environment(s). They would frequent the hotel’s free buffet, visit the pool/beach, and may consume large amounts of alcohol. I know I’m generalizing a bit but I’m certain you got several real-life visuals of some of your friends or maybe its you who “travel” this way. Again, I am not bashing or mocking you, I intend to only show the vastly different ways some people utilize the word “travel” and how it relates to the way they “travel” or nah. Lol! That’s it. To each their own.
3rd reason why traveling might be for you is if you’re someone who is a xenophilic/ a xeophilia. Lol you could visit Dr. Google if you don’t know what that “big word” means. Its definition loosely is someone / person who is attracted to foreign culture(s). This too ties to my 1st reason, all of those books, cartoons and many of those random interactions I generally had with foreigners when I was younger in addition to me being open minded and secure with myself has made me as I am today, a travel blogger.
I’ll try to detail the desire more meticulously. What happens to you when you are watching a movie that is recorded from another country and you here their accents/ languages they are speaking; do you overlook all of those differences or does the movie intrigues you even more? For me, it’s the latter. Foreign cultures usually attract me in a way greasy vegan pizza attracts me lol minus the river like drooling that follows ahah! The deep desire is strong and usually lasts a while or would dwindle after I’ve learned enough about that culture/ country/ person, but the admiration would remain. I’m not sure if it’s the same emotions/ feels for other xenophilia’s but for me this is it. =)
3rd reason why travelingmight not be for you is if you’re someone who is xenophobic/ a xenophobia. The loose definition is a person who dislike or is prejudiced towards people from other countries/ culture(s)/ lifestyle(s). There are people in my family who dislike foreign cultures and even subcultures because of various reasons. A xenophobic person wouldn’t feel comfortable around other persons who differ from their main social circles and would possibly harbor prejudices against people who are unfamiliar to them. I feel that a xenophobic person is prone to fear and may also be ignorant (be it by choice or circumstances). Again, I don’t intend to bash, but that’s the reality from what I’ve heard from actual xenophobes, but I digress to each their own.
And there you have it folks! Is traveling for you or nah?
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-B