After spending 4 months a year for the last 30 years living out of a suitcase, Rick Steves reflects on the value of thoughtful travel. Sharing lessons learned from Iran to El Salvador and from India to Denmark, Steves tells why spending all that time and money away from home has broadened his perspective, enriched his life, and made it clear to him, as he says in his talk, “Fear is for people who don’t get out very much.”
Having only watched a few of Rick Steves travel videos, I wasn’t for sure about listening to his speech. He does really explain very clearly and to the point his views on traveling and the value of it.
His speech inspired me to always make sure to find a way to interact with the locals somehow. Am I really taking advantage of the time I am in a taxi cab going from one place in the city to another? What could I do more to create an environment to initial a conversation in an authentic way? I guess most of the instances when you get to talk with a local aren’t situations that are exactly planned.
How can you interact with the locals though in such a short time? The great moments you might share with the locals might only be brief encounters, but they can be, in deed, lasting ones. One can almost retell each individual encounter with a local when revisiting old photos they had taken from a trip.
What part of travel have you put value on? Do you value other parts of traveling more than others? Are international teachers more likely to have the necessary skills to interact with the locals or place that experience high on our list?
One of the reasons that I because a teacher was so that I could work with people that are different than me. I learn so much from talk with the students from countries different than me. I learn so much from what the parents share with me as well.
Our quest continues then in our attempt to understand the people in our world a little bit better, and I guess that means that more traveling is in order for our next vacation time….ahhh the life of an international teacher!
