Why we travel?
Outline
- Your travels
- Why travel?
- Why travel top 10
- Why should young people travel?
- Why don't Americans travel?
- Self-imposed Isolation
- Long way Round / Long Way Down review
- A geographer's perspective
Your travels
When I travel, I like to get out and explore and try new activities. This usually means packing gear for what I am going to be doing. Whether its clothes, food or actual equipment its always important to be prepared when you venture off from home. I like to travel to places that will require me to use new gear and or different forms of sleeping such as hammocking and or throwing up a tent.
Why
travel?
Huberman states that traveling will expose her to new ways of seeing and doing things which she explained would be good for her. This means that she wants fresh new experiences and to change some aspect of how she views the world and the people in it. After being shell shocked by her experience in India I feel she accomplished her goal of seeing and doing things different.
Why
travel top ten
For me the most important reason to travel is to see new landscapes and climates I can’t experience at home. Another one of my top ten reasons to travel is to experience new things you can’t do at home; for me that’s skiing or backpacking in the mountains. It important to experience and understand other people’s cultures.
Why
should young people travel?
The top six reasons young people should travel are, get out of your comfort zone, builds confidence, development of cultural sensitivity, adopting globalization, immerse in second or third language, and infinite opportunities to network. I personally believe the best reason for young people traveling is confidence. On my first fully alone trip to Colorado, even at age 21, I still got a sense of accomplish meant when I returned home. This for me was a victory it told me I was able to make it out there in the world on my own and experience new places without consulting people.
Why
don't Americans travel?
The main reasons Americans do not travel is due to comfort and cost. Other factors such as work patterns and skepticism lead to overall low percentages of Americans traveling abroad. I feel the main reason Americans don’t travel is due to the degree of comfort in which we enjoy in the United States. Personally, for me the language barrier is the main reason I do not travel to other countries outside of the U.S. Who do you ask for help if you don’t speak the language? How can I possibly travel in an area where I can’t read the street signs?
Self-imposed
Isolation?
When I went to Miami University in Ohio, I joined a fraternity where a lot of the brothers would go on group vacations and or school outings. Many of the brothers would not participate due to uncertainties revolving around cost, lack of knowledge and just being overwhelming. This is a form of self-imposed isolation and has cost many of my friends’ great experiences. I think if everyone spoke the same language everywhere in the world there would be a lot less of this going on.
Long way Round /
Long way Down review
I enjoyed reading someone else’s opinion on the show because I had no previous interest in motorcycles. I really liked the sheer journey that these videos revolve around. Though its heavily documented I don’t feel it takes away from the excitement although they could have achieved more with some more background knowledge of where they were. I wish they did a lot less advertising which was also mentioned in the review because this made it feel staged even though they were in “the wild”.
A Missing
Geographic Perspective
As a geographer I noticed a couple areas during the show where knowledge of geography and or climate would have helped. Six and a half minutes into episode 2 of long way down the guys get caught in heavy rains. They mention that they were going to pack rain gear but figured they would not need them due to location and weather. This was a mistake because they had not taken elevation into consideration. As conditions for rain started to form and moist air accumulated and began to rain heavily on them. Historically unpredictable weather patterns have been associated with mountains regions where weather can change fast and abruptly.
Passports
Maps of passport ownership in US by state have been used in different ways.
Do a Google Image search and include one of these maps below. Discuss the
distribution. What does passport ownership indicate?
While looking at a map of passport ownership distribution across the United States it’s easy to see the vast differences amongst states. Passport ownership can tell us a lot about the demographic of individuals living in a certain state. For instance, not many low income households or individuals are likely be doing much out of country traveling due to socioeconomic factors. The distribution on this map can also be explained by education and how more educated individuals are more likely to travel. Along with education the percentages of individuals in the work force can also affect the distribution on the map that we see. All of these factors play a role in where and how often someone can afford to travel.
Submitted by Zach Boll on 1/23/2020.