🔭 How traveling changed the way I looked at the world
We're more connected than ever plus: A 14-year-old country, Pride Month, and Toilet Races
Growing up in the 80s & 90s in California, 99.5% of my friends were all people born in the United States.
One classmate in middle school was Nick from Colombia. In high school, I had a Russian friend named Pasha.
In college, there was an exchange student from Kenya named Kiki. Since I’d hardly been out of the US at that time, their home countries were like Mars to me.
My worldview for many years was: here’s the US and then there’s the rest of the world.
If there was a war or an earthquake somewhere that wasn’t the US, it was over there and well beyond my radar of interest.
Shoot, I was just trying to get through finals!
Then I got my first real taste of the world outside the US thanks to my friends Jack (Europe) and Andrew (New Zealand).
Besides my external surroundings changing, subtle shifts in my way of thinking took root.
The first “wow” moment was meeting an Iraqi man who was a retired soldier. A genuine and kind person, he suffered a bullet wound fighting against my country in the Gulf War in 1991.
This was the tip of the iceberg.
After a few hostel stays, I had a list of emails (because back then we wrote down emails) of new acquaintances from Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Israel, and India.
Each conversation, whether it was a few minutes long or a couple of hours, all of sudden connected a dot between our countries.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say here again: we truly do become an unofficial ambassador to our country when we travel.
Sure, there are many differences. We all come from places with complex histories.
In my last post, my friend Kent told me there's a lot we have in common with other countries if you take the time to look.
I totally agree.
I realized people all over the world enjoy beer and coffee. (even coffee-flavored beer which is my favorite!)
Leonardo from Italy shocked me when he knew more about Kendrick Lamar than I did.
My friend Malin from Sweden introduced me to baking bread, something I never thought I'd enjoy.
Thanks to travel, my mindset about the world changed.
It’s not us and them. This world is connected and we’re all in it together in one way or another.
Getting to this point took getting out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t easy at first, but it’s an investment I don’t regret.
I’ll always be grateful for that.
What about you?
🤲 Travel quote of the week
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
🌍 The youngest country on Earth
🔵 According to How Stuff Works, the Republic of South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. This East African nation gained independence from Sudan in 2011, making it 14 years old as of the date of this publication.
Its capital is Juba and English is its official language.
Its people have endured a seven-year civil war (2013-2020) and territorial disputes with Sudan since becoming a sovereign nation.
🏳️🌈 Happy Pride Month
🔵 Happy Pride to everyone who celebrated this month!
Today is the last day of Pride Month around the world. Each year, from June 1st to the 30th, cities and countries around the world recognize the contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community.
It's arguably one of the biggest cultural events around the globe. Whether it’s a massive parade, music festival, art walk, or sporting event, Pride is celebrated in countless unique ways depending on where you live.
Although each city may have a distinctive theme for its Pride celebration, the month is typically used to promote equality, diversity, activism, and inclusion.
The first Pride parade took place on June 28, 1970, in NYC, LA, and Chicago to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
🧻 A random thing to do in Virginia City, Nevada..
🔵 If you find yourself in Virginia City, Nevada next October 5, you’re in for a quirky surprise.
Each year, the city holds its annual World Championship Outhouse Race. Racers in costumes push homemade outhouses through the main street and the first to cross the toilet paper finish line wins.
What’s an outhouse? 🤔
Back when houses didn’t have plumbing, people would do their business in a small outdoor shed or barn.
Not the one where the cows were, a special one! 🐮
Luckily, the race's outhouses are only props!
Thank you so much for reading. This post was written with love and a few sips of coffee.
If you enjoyed this post, share it with someone who could use a 5-minute vacation. 😉
Happy Monday and see you next week!
Much love,
-Daniel
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Related posts:
• 🔹 Traveler Spotlight #7: Kent Johnson
• ✍️ 5 fun and free things you can do anywhere
• 🌍 Should you trust other people’s travel advice?
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Travel truly is a window to the world!!! And you found a picture window (or more than one) for sure, Daniel!
When I travel I find the things that the US has in common with other countries more interesting than the things that are different. And how much the same some of the different things are. We definitely grow up with this mindset that we are the center of the world in the US.
I got to March in a Pride parade in Medellín last year. It felt so interesting to be doing something that everyone around the world was doing.
I love the outhouse races!