There is a saying that travel is it’s own reward, but there are obviously other reasons for making the decision to travel to different places. Whether for vacation, adventure, a change of scenery, or a trip of a lifetime, people travel to a variety of places every day. For the most part, people are hoping to gain something from their travels, after all it is often quite expensive. We aren’t any different, we also get something in return for traveling to all of the places that we visit. For us, it is learning about the culture, meeting the people, and experimenting with local flavors that are our rewards. We aren’t cultural anthropologists, but we do use many of those concepts when we are on a trip to a foreign country.
We certainly understand the adventure travelers who travel the world looking for different thrills. Whether diving off a reef in the Caribbean, climbing to the top of some of the worlds largest mountains, or trekking through dense forests, there are many different pulse pounding ways to spend your time when traveling. We have definitely had our share of adventures from staying in the Amazon, going down Death Road in Bolivia, climbing to the top of Colorado mountains, white-water rafting, skiing, and ziplining in different jungles. However, for us, it was visiting the indigenous villages and meeting the people that call these places home that have made the most lasting memories.
No one can blame people who choose to travel for relaxation. There is nothing like sitting on a beach or a mountain resort and not doing much of anything. We take several trips throughout the year and at least one of those is usually just to unwind and let the day-to-day stresses melt away. Just because we are relaxing, though, doesn’t mean that we don’t take time to meet the locals and taste the local foods. Whether in Mexico or on the Spanish Riviera, we like to learn about the people who live near the resorts and make their living by pampering all of the tourists who come to their locations. Often times, many of them have moved from their home towns to earn money and send it back to their families.
Whether traveling to a country where the citizens look similar to yourself or traveling to a place where you stand out amongst the crowds, there is so much to learn from the places that you visit. As much as the world has become smaller with the internet, television, and social media, there is no substitute for spending time in a culture that is different than your own and taking time to understand the people that live there. One of the things that constantly amazes us is when we see tourists in a different country that don’t take time to actually talk to the people who live there, but just wander through taking pictures and acting like it is an exhibit for them to see. In our opinion, those people are missing out on the best part of traveling, absorbing as much about the culture as possible. What is it that drives you to take the time and spend the money to travel to places that are foreign to you?
I agree, it is interacting with the locals that gives you a rich understanding of different cultures.
The best part 🙂
The people can make or break a place in my opinion. I also love just seeing new places and doing new things when I travel.
Experiences, just experiences mental and physical! Referring to Your first photo on this post, we arrange different cases. Here is my post which shows:
Rafting competition standing on log in river
In the beginning there are Samba photos in the middle of nowhere. How the Japanese TV-star Daisuke Miyagawa (宮川大輔) managed this competition?
Happy and safe travels!
Great post and we are just like you guys in that we love nothing better than getting to know people as we travel and making new friends. It’s those people and special moments that travelling is all about.
We have made so many friends across the globe and have stayed in touch with them over the years.
Great post. Agree 100%. It’s best to dive deep into a local culture far off the tourist path and with a genuine local guide. (Or sometimes without a guide 😎). Knowing the local language is of course important. However, some of my best moments of connecting with locals have been when just showing up…charades and a great translator (if the local language is offered) will go along way.
Thank you. We really love diving into cultures. When we use a guide we tell them we want to do more than just the “tourist” sites, get off the beaten path and explore. We have had our fair amount of charade communications 🙂
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