My friend just came back from a trip to Africa that included a summit to Mt. Kilimanjaro (aka the Rooftop of Africa), a safari, and something that most travelers don’t do: he reached out to a Tanzanian local orphanage, Amani Children’s Home.
When people think of traveling, the majority of people think of vacations. They think of Mai Tais on the beach away from the cell phones and meeting presentations. They think about visiting some small wonders in some tourist package deal. They want to get far away and get lost, only to be surrounded by a sea of tourists.
That’s just a physical change. Vacations are meant to be a complete reset of the mind, body, and spirit. The only way to truly go on vacations is to give your mind, body and spirit a break, by walking in someone else’s shoes.
While most people think about an exotic African safari, most don’t usually think about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and rarely does one think about visiting an orphanage on their vacations and excursions. Instead of just getting away, my friend immersed himself in a whole different world.
Left Picture: Children at a Tanzanian orphanage enacting the solar system with Paulo Younse – fearless humanitarian.
In preparation for his African trip, he made plans to do a show and tell at an orphanage in Tanzania about space exploration and science (he works on NASA related programs). He brought a donated telescope along with his gear and necessities. He even spent the few months before his trip learning Swahili so that he could communicate with the children. He searched for an orphanage in Tanzania, prepared the presentation, and arranged for a translator to be a part of the presentation. He truly immersed himself on the trip through these activities and gave the Tanzania orphanage community something that no other visitors or efforts had given before: a view of higher education about space and science.
There is a difference between traveling as a tourist and traveling as a member of the human community: the stories. As a tourist, you’re the outsider looking in. You dress in your out of sync outfits and gear as you take pictures in front of textbook figurines and monuments. As a member of the human community, you are an insider. You eat and sing as the locals do and you walk beside them as they embrace you into their lives. You may not remember the places in those pictures, but you will always remember the faces and the feelings from those places that make up a unique story. When you travel away from the glitz and strip away the cloaks of social labels, you discover fundamental truths about the world and people.
Here are a few ways to make your traveling different in 2010:
Volunteer & Development Programs
Traveling for service through organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Foundation for Sustainable Development creates memories that last a lifetime. It combines adventure, education, culture, and development. You get complete cultural immersion by getting involved with global development. Not only do you get to travel and experience culture, but you get a chance to change a community.
Work Abroad
Take a couple of weeks off and stomp grapes in Italy or teach English in Asia or South America. Teaching positions usually require 6 months to a year contract, but you may be able to find filler positions that may need you for a couple of months or less. A few years ago, I taught English for a month at a vocational school during my trip to China through Global Crossroads. English is a hot commodity and is a highly valuable position.
Join in an activity
Are you a marathoner? I’m planning on signing up for a marathon in a different country or continent, such as the Great Wall Marathon. Several years ago, my friends combined a European trip with tickets to Wimbledon in London to catch the tennis finals. Or maybe you like bicycling. Consider a long-distance bike route through Germany. Combine your passions and traveling so that your traveling has a purpose. It stretches your world wider and allows you to learn how connected we all are, and hopefully refines your purpose in life by discovering your self nature in embracing your interests internationally.
Travel off the beaten path
Live out loud by traveling away from the tour and the guides. It’s the best way to see the world. I did a road trip across New Zealand in my two weeks there. My companion traveler and I rented a car and followed a map from the North Island to the South Island and stumbled upon a few adventures and misadventures in a foreign country. I went to New Zealand but I also bungee jumped in Queenstown, the birthplace of bungee jumping, and got a speeding ticket for misreading the speed limit sign because we forgot that the sign was in kilometers per hour and not miles per hour. In Costa Rica, our car got a flat tire driving on dirt road and the memory of a local elderly man and 5 city girls changing the tire in the middle of Costa Rica remains etched in my mind long after the pictures have faded. These adventures wouldn’t be something we would have gotten from a tour.
In my travels, I always try to find ways to fully experience the places with activities and adventures that are not in the tour book. To me, getting away is not my purpose, I also want to craft a few good stories that I can talk about years after. I want to be able to say what I did and not just what I saw, somehow taking a different piece of it away with me when I go. How many can say they’ve been to New Zealand? Some, but better yet, how many can say they had a run-in with the law in New Zealand? Not too many. How many can say they’ve been on an African safari? Some, but better yet, how many can say they’ve visited a Tanzanian orphanage? None, if any at all.
In 2010, when you make your travel plans, try something off the beaten path. Forgo the hotels and the fine dining. Instead, do something to get a story that no one else will be able to tell, to accompany the pictures you take.
What kind of traveling will you do in 2010?
