Get Away: Why You Need To Expand Your Horizons

Posted July 30, 2009 11:58 PM

Posted in adventure, Enjoy, escape, fun, international, plan, safe, tip, travel, where to go

Each summer I have had a number of friends visit me in Boulder, Colorado. These friends aren't wide-eyed tourists, but rather world travelers who I have guided on walking trips to some of the most beautiful destinations on Earth. They've been to Europe more times than they can count, hiked in Peru, Patagonia, and Nepal, sailed along the Turkish coast and scuba dived in Indonesia. They aren't easily wowed. But nonetheless, they wonder why I would ever want to leave my hometown. The weather is nearly perfect, we have the mountain playground in our backyard, and great festivals, farmers markets, music, shopping, dining ... and if we need to experience a different culture we can just hop down to Santa Fe for the weekend. Right?

Who needs to escape beyond your home town? Beyond your state? Beyond the US?

We all do! Get out your passport; here's what you need to know.

Disconnect
Traveling within the US, it's easy to stay connected. For many of us, it's actually difficult to disconnect. Our Blackberries are vibrating; our email box is full; we are thinking about work, family, finances, news. Even when we are in the mountains, we're thinking maybe we should get home ... beat the traffic, get some work done, catch up before the week begins.

When we travel to a destination where the language and culture are different, we spend a significant amount of time figuring out how to live day to day. We slow down. That's good for us. We are consumed by simple things, like what to eat and how to greet people we meet. Visiting a market or biking to the next village becomes exotic. We feel a huge sense of accomplishment when we successfully order a cup of coffee or read a local train schedule.

We return home with olive oil from a producer we met, a textile from a village we visited, a stamp on our passport. Oh, and we also have a new form of social currency when we join our friends out for tapas or ceviche; we scour the produce and grocery aisle looking for items that connect us to our travel experience.

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Posted July 8, 2009 3:00 PM

I know it may be a huge leap of faith for some, but please consider US Peace Corps if you really want to see how they live in other parts of the world. Until 1996 I lived just up the road from the author in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I decided to join Peace Corps to fulfill a life long dream. I was assigned to Kenya and arrived in September 2006, just 2 weeks after my 60th birthday. I have now finished my Peace Corps service and have chosen to continue to live in my small fishing village on the Kenyan coast north of Mombasa. No, I am not living in a mud hut, but I definitely live more simply than I did in the US...and I am really enjoying it. The joys and frustrations of learning a new culture and a new language are endless. I still don't speak fluent Swahili but Kenya has 2 national languages, English being one of them. Peace Corps will even assign couples together. What a great way to spend your retirement years, while being supported by the US Government and learning how the rest of the world lives. You can find out more about Peace Corps at www.peacecorps.gov.

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Posted June 1, 2009 3:32 PM

Last year I traveled to Crete (the largest island in Greece). It was the most amazing experience of my life. I stayed in the town of Plakias where we rode horses on the beach, climbed waterfalls, and were welcomed whole-heartedly by the locals. I fully support travel beyond the U.S. borders. With the advent of the interwebs we are no longer a national community. We are a global community and we need to think that way- even when planning vacation destinations.

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