Let’s open our minds by travelling abroad

I love travelling. Since I was a teenager, travelling has been one of the greatest things in my life, because visiting foreign countries helps me to open my mind and my thoughts, and this open-minded attitude strengthens my overall vision of the world, giving me the chance to understand foreign realities. Travelling is so important in my life that it was one of main reasons for becoming a civil servant. Before starting to work in public administration, I worked in a call centre and I didn’t like it at all; besides, my job timetable was scarcely compatible with travelling. Then I started to study hard for the public penitentiary services examination because one of my goals was to have a job that enabled me to travel to foreign countries at least once a year. This was one of my personal motivations for passing the exam. And I did it!

Every time I’ve travelled, I’ve learnt lots of things about the culture of each country. My first contact with foreign culture is always reading travel guides to find out basic information about the country’s history, gastronomy, society, politics, art and customs. One way to embrace these different ways of life is to give importance to mountains, forests, valleys, seas, sunrises and sunsets tracing all natural landscapes of each country; the architecture, paintings, music, popular dances, writing and poetry of each place, even their religion, beliefs, doctrines and traditions; but for me the most important way to understand a foreign land is through the looks of children, the smiles of the elderly, conversations between native people in their daily lives, enjoying the gastronomy and getting lost in the city streets. 

My limited travelling experience has taught me that Europe is an ancient but very open-minded continent, a place where society has evolved concurrent to historical periods, adapting its mentality to the big changes that have taken place over the last two hundred years. I’ve enjoyed seeing cool people living their day-to-day lives in New York, spending their time hoping that a cool-hunter or trend-setter will notice them and make them become a momentary star, trying to achieve their personal American dream. I’ve seen gazes of hope in Muslim women when they meet foreign people; hope that they may live in a more egalitarian society. I’ve had a nice surprise when I’ve met people who are very interested in children’s education and who are doing everything possible to spread basic education to the children of an underdeveloped country. Nevertheless, when thinking about the everyday importance of beliefs, it is disheartening to become aware of the difficulties and power disputes between religions. Although in many countries oriented toward tourism it seems that there isn’t any trouble, the reality is very different when we talk to the local people, especially in Muslim countries, who transmit to us their concern about the situation of their religion nowadays, giving the feeling that they are living in a continuously tense situation. We should learn from developing countries their peaceful and simple understanding of life, their ability to smile when facing adverse conditions, their generosity and altruism in sharing their limited belongings, the survival of their traditional customs and, especially, their non-materialistic point of view.

Travelling is an escape from the daily routine that helps us to relax and to relieve personal and professional stress; it’s a good way to appreciate nature and wildlife, the best way to learn as much as possible from the country of our destination and, above all, it makes us more supportive of persons that are living in conditions worse than ours. We have to be very aware that travelling is a great privilege; that is why I can’t understand travelling as only a hobby and a pleasurable activity. It is for me a vital need, something that evokes feelings and helps me to grow as a person.

Uinen