Final Draft

Traveling Through My Life

The experiences we have growing up defines who we are deep down when considering our morals, values, and beliefs. We experience life differently each day, constantly being exposed to other cultures, ideas, and obstacles that each contribute special characteristics to our own personalities and beliefs. Living as a college student at Ohio University, I am more aware than ever of the diversity of people that the world has to offer. As a whole, our university has quite a large variety of cultures and backgrounds from all over the world, each having their own unique traits and characteristics.

I was born and raised just north of Columbus in Delaware County, near a town called Powell, and is for the most part generally an upscale area. Coming from this area, there was a common stereotype that were two "types" of people from this area; the "snobs" and then the rest of people who weren't flaunting money like it was going out of style. When I was first old enough to realize this general stereotype in my community, I liked to take pride in the fact that my family was not one that would show off every single asset they had to make an impression. I never really thought about how this cultural stereotype affected my childhood and how it defined who I am today until recently.

Columbus, Ohio

Other things aside, my family raised me and my two sisters (one older, one younger) in an open and caring environment. I had my own personal choices when considering religion, friends, and extra curricular activities throughout school. I think this can be contributed to what I like to call my parents "philosophy of life", which was you get back what you give out. This didn't entail that I could run around and just do anything I wanted whenever I wanted, but rather proving to them that they could trust me, and more importantly that I was trying to become a well rounded and overall good person. I think this is why we are all so close and open as a family together. With this being said, we did many family activities throughout the years. My personal favorite activity was going on vacations with family and friends, which we did a couple times a year.

My parents and I at senior night for football

Traveling the world has been quite an awesome and learning experience. One of my more memorable vacations was when I went to the Dominican Republic. It was memorable to me because of the great food, unique culture and history, and especially the sight seeing. But, however, I was constantly reminded that all of the Dominican Republic wasn't as great as the American-made resorts made it seem. One of the more vivid memories I had didn't involve any of these great things I mentioned earlier. We went with our family friends, their youngest son being one of my best friends. After our arrival to the airport, we were quickly departed on a charter bus through the highways and back roads of the country. My friend and I sat quiet and observant in the back. At first, I was expecting marvelous cliffs and water so clear you could see the bottom floor. This most certainly was not the case. Almost every house for as many miles as I could try to count were all made from tin and aluminum, some just plain holes in the ground with a sheet of metal overhead to protect them from the rain. I specifically remember my friend and I calling the houses "shanties" and were extremely surprised at what we saw. Before one is quick to judge, we were only 8 years old and clearly naive. However, to this day I still remember those shacks more vividly than I do the rest of the trip. This really meant something to me, and I didn't realize it until after the fact. Since most of the Dominican Republic citizens were living in poverty, my expectations for the people were low in the beginning. To my surprise, this most certainly was not the case; I can still recall the people being exceptionally friendly, going out of their way to make our trip memorable, fun, and exciting. Although I thought they all looked alike, they dressed in a neat and professional fashion. This didn't quite conform to my original expectations of the country, and left me pondering about the correlation between money and happiness.

American-Made Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

After a couple years, we planned a family trip to Cancun, Mexico. Although I was a little bit older and more mature (so I like to think) my expectations for this new foreign country were not much different than those from my trip to Dominican Republic. I was expecting something different I guess, I was just unsure since I had never been to this place before. Once arriving at a small airport, the first thing I noticed was that there was no gate to the actual airport, so we had to walk. This was when I made my initial observations and judgements of the new country we just arrived in. It was then when I realized that the two places, Dominican Republic and Mexico, might not be so different after all when it comes to how the people live and how they make a living. This too was quickly confirmed once we began our journey to the resort. The houses looked almost exactly identical, and it was obvious that the poverty level was extremely high. Nonetheless, once we arrived at the resort, it was teeming with life: beautiful palm trees, colorful birds singing everywhere, and a welcoming courtyard that looked as if it came from a fantasy. And the hospitality of the people was akin to that of Dominican Republic. All of the Mexican employees were extremely nice and willing to help with anything. All of these things diverted my curiosity away from the real Mexican way of life, becoming more focused on the beauty and fun we were about to have during that week. However, one of our fun activities led to my most cherished memory from that trip which was going four-wheeling through the Mexican terrain with a local guide. This memory is important to me because my father and I had a blast together, but also because the guide made it special for us. He could speak in English, but not very well. This didn't matter to me though, because it was what he had to say rather than how well he could say it. To this day I can still remember that he was the father of two little girls, and the stories of all the rough times he had growing up as a child and how it shaped him into the man he was. Not only did he leave an everlasting impression on me, but more importantly showed me that he was grateful for everything he had in his life--regardless of income.

Shacks and Huts in Mexico

To me, this is why I think travel is such a great thing. You are literally tossed into another culture and forced to adapt, learning many lessons, values, and meeting tons of new people you otherwise wouldn't on your way. This concept of cultural shock and adaptation can be found and closely related to the graphic novel titled "La Perdida" by Jessica Abel. I found much relevance in her story of how a young American women (Carla) travels to Mexico, and tries to learn and conform to the concept of the "authentic Mexican heritage". I felt like I could easily relate to this novel because I have been to Mexico, and in situations similar to Carla's. It is easy to misjudge or misinterpret another culture based on only a short period of time being spent there, but just by visiting a foreign place one is exposed to an infinite amount of new material that in whole makes up the world piece by piece. Like Carla, I too found myself sometimes "lost" in these new cultures, absorbing in all of the new aspects while trying to maintain an open mind. But most importantly, travelling not only exposes some of the most beautiful sights there are to see, but rather shows how the rest of the world lives and operates.

During the next few years we went back to Mexico three times. We visited Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, and Rivera Maya, and I can say from personal experience that our life style in the U.S. should be considered a blessing. After completing some additional research, I found out that more than 3 billion people live on two U.S. dollars or less a day (WiseGeek). While this saying may not be exact, it brings light upon the idea of how money is taken for granted in some countries, and how the majority of people really live. This made me think about the true necessities of life, not the superficial wants and desires we generally have in the United States.

Furthermore, my junior year I went on the school trip with some friends to France for two weeks and had one of the best times of my life. I visited Paris and the Eiffel Tower, went to famous wineries and toured all sorts of museums and historical sights-- all with my best friends. However, I also had some humbling experiences while I was over there. The first day we arrived in Paris, we all went out to dinner. When we came back, our room was scrummaged through, and I had over $250 dollars and a digital camera stolen from me. My friend apparently lost the room key card, and somebody went around to each room scanning the hotel card in the doors until they found the right one. This was a startling yet learning experience, because it reinforced to me the concept of "good and bad people", and that you can't just trust anyone. This experience has not only changed my habits when it comes to travel safety, but was also a contributing factor as to how I view people in general. In my opinion, there are many times in one's life where they are presented with the chance to do a good or bad deed, although nobody is watching. This to me is a significant factor when it comes to defining character, loyalty, greed, and gratuity.

A Friend and I at Normandy, France

 Following this further, when I visited France and all of its beauty, there were similar characteristics to that in Dominican Republic and Mexico. Even though Europe isn't known for its extremely high poverty levels as compared to the other places, I was still exposed to a large amount of people living in poverty because of how large of a city Paris was. The similarities included a very large amount of homeless, sick, and hungry. These factors were present in every country I have visited to this day, and is the leading contributor to how I like to define myself when it comes to my values and beliefs as a human being.

Eiffel Tower Paris, France

In conclusion, travelling is a great way to get an objective view of how the world revolves. After reflecting on my travel experiences, I can now say that I am much more grateful about my life and possessions than ever before. Being exposed to different cultures and settings allowed me to intake and reflect on my thoughts and ideas in a different perspective. Also, seeing how most people lived really shocked me, and sometimes made me feel selfish for wanting so much when some didn't even have a roof above their heads, or food for their children. Something that is considered to be a "norm" here in the U.S. may not be in another country, and is typically what we take for granted the most (food,shelter,water). It is the concept of happiness and character that fulfills my humanistic drive, not money and assets, and this was constantly reassured through the people I met on my trips. Some of the most kind, willing, and outgoing people I have ever met were on these vacations, and I can assure you they had very little money. Although it took multiple exposures to different countries and cultures, my experiences and observations from the past ultimately helped shape who I am present day. There may be "two kinds" of people where I'm from, but the world in-whole offers far greater variances and diversity amongst us, leaving our character, values, and beliefs as the most important aspect in each of us independently. I plan on teaching the same concept to my children of being thankful and humble, because if it wasn't for my parents, I can definitely say I wouldn't be the same person I am now. Their saying of "you get back what you give out" has inspired me to do well for the needy, as well as solidify my character into something greater. Being grateful for what I have is something I will always cherish, and can almost completely be contributed to my experiences with travel.

Works Cited

"How Much Money Does the Average Person Live On?." WiseGeek. WiseGeek. Web. 12 Dec 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-money-per-day-does-the-average-person-live-on.htm>.

Shah, Anup. "Global Issues." Poverty Facts and Stats. Global Issues, 20 2010. Web. 12 Dec 2012. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats>.

Hart, Kelly. "Earthbag Building." Peurto Vallarta Model House. N.p.. Web. 12 Dec 2012. <http://earthbagbuilding.com/projects/pvmodel.htm>

Abel, Jessica. La Perdida. Pantheon Books, 2006. Print.