Most people take vacations for two reasons.
The 1st is to enjoy new scenery. And the 2nd is to relax from the hustle of daily life.
Both focus on refreshment and entertainment. They’re a sign of relief to those who are stressed out by modern life.
The 3rd reason why people travel is to discover and learn about people places, history, culture and different ways of living.
Explore Life by Exploring the World.
Ever felt that your life was too local?
Ever felt like your life lacked meaning, beyond the routines of work and entertainment?
If so, you need to expand your life perspective. You need to find meaning in your life, through different cultures and systems of thought.
This is something travelling can help you with.
Travelling for a Larger Perspective
Think about vacations in an exotic country
You’re in a foreign environment. It’s a different culture, language, and a different life outlook.
The ways of thought are different. The culture you’re in has a different outlook on spirituality and materialism.
Not to mention, you’re dealing with a different collective history – one with happiness and misfortunes.
All of that distracts you from the local perspective you had back home. You end up appreciating how large the world is, and how different people can be.
You’ll feel mesmerized by the diversity of human experiences.
Travelling to Discovery: Develops Empathy.
The sheer amount of new information stimulates thought. It stimulates your inner world, and it makes you think deeply about others’ experience.
That in turn helps you develop empathy as you compare your struggles with those of others.
It gives you an objective perspective on how life is. And it shows you that it’s OK to have setbacks in life.
Discovering Living History
All countries in the world have rich histories. But in our current age, those histories are locked up in museums and history books…
Few cultures today appreciate their histories, beyond lip service.
You see, everyone is distracted by urban life. There’s just no time to think back to the past and understand how life was…
Unfortunately…
Most cultures are so urbanized that their cultural histories become an afterthought.
You need a culture that still has ties to its tradition and history. It shouldn’t be so obsessed with urbanity and modern life, the same way many countries are today.
An Obsession of Urbanity Can Destroy Ancient Cultures
Here’s an example to illustrate…
Back in 1917, an incident known as “The Halifax Explosion” occurred in Nova Scotia, Canada.
What had happened was a collision between 2 ships, where one was carrying large ammunition. The explosion was the largest man-made in history, before the creation of nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, collateral damage involved local Indian communities living nearby.
Those were the Mi’kmaq, Native Indians who had lived in Canada for centuries.
The Painful History.
For years, the Mi’kmaq were pressured to give up their land to the local Canadian government. And with the Halifax explosion, the prospect of that became easier.
The damaged community from the explosion was relocated into low-quality housing.
The conditions were poor, where many suffered away from their natural homes.
Now, today there is widespread compensation for those communities. But the point was, the sites destroyed during that explosion were centuries old…
Much history was gone. Much was destroyed due to carelessness, and a care for urban expansion.
The Recovery.
Today, the Halifax community is one of the best trending cities in the world.
It’s one of the best for fishing and marine activities. And that’s a part of its heritage that it hasn’t lost so far…
But also, the Hydrostone project was created after the 1917 explosion. And this was to help displaced families from the disaster.
Similarly, the Hyrdostone project is known as one of the best towns in Canada today.
Another Example…
Let’s look at the Caribbean and its history of slavery.
The Caribbean’s history stretches millennia back. But its recorded history is only a few centuries old.
Today’s Caribbean culture is predominantly African in origin with European influence. But it was not always like this…
Before that South American Arawaks and Carib Cultures were the main settlers.
Only traces of those ancient culture remain in parts of Dominica and St. Lucia, where some of their relics are displayed in museums (found through archeological digs).
Exceptions.
In some islands s there was no indigenous population when the Europeans settled. One such example is Barbados…
There, the British transformed the island into a world class sugar and rum producer. This was done by bringing African slaves to work the plantations.
As a result, we see that descendants of African slaves are the predominant culture (with strong British influences). It’s a unique mixture, leading to a vibrant culture and character of people.
In Barbados, you get resilience and pride, in a land that is free and respectful. It is true diversity rising from the ashes of excess and forgiveness.
Transcending the Past.
Barbados gets its cultural magic from how it overcame its past of slavery and abuse.
Its current African descendants are now masters of the land, ruling with benevolence and respect, and never losing sight of their music, dance culture and festivals.
It’s a culture that loves nature. And its culture and outlook has left its mark on a people who are positive, outgoing, friendly, welcoming, respectful and free.
Not to mention, Barbados is a highly developed country!
As You Can See…
In part, discovery involves exploring other cultures.
When you get to know the history of others, you get to see their value sets. This in turn gives you insights into new ways of looking at life. It can help you look at life differently, letting you find your own values.
And that’s why Journey to discover are educational and fun. In the process you also learn a lot about yourself. In fact traveling opens your consciousness and as you learn about others you also gain insight into your own motivation, character and needs – It can be a life changing experience.
Learn more about traveling for self-discovery on this insightful article here: https://www.reliablecounter.com/blog/travelling-for-self-discovery-a-life-changing-experience/