Having been home in New Zealand for a few weeks now, a few things are starting to make more sense. One is related to how people respond to me when I talk about this trip I'm taking.
In the United States, when I told people (prepare for mass generalisations forthcoming) that I was going to travel around the world by myself, hiking, biking, camping, staying in hostels, contacting strangers via couchsurfer and staying at their houses, going to live in countries where I didn't speak the language . . . I got a particular string of reactions.
"Aren't you scared?"
"Aren't you excited!"
"Wow, I could never do that"
"You have to do that while you're young"
"Isn't that a little indulgent?"
"Have you thought about x?"
"I'm so excited for you"
This website may have been forwarded my way from a particular friend (you know who you are :) )
When I explained this same plan to New Zealanders, I got quite a different set of responses.
"Oh yeah, I've done that""Cool. Yeah, I've been there. It's awesome"
"That's so exciting"
"I/(my brother/mother/father/neighbour/friend/grandma/relative/hairdresser) did that/is doing that"
"I know a New Zealander there."
"I'm so excited for you"
Wikipedia explains a little more.
In general, New Zealanders just see this as a completely commonplace thing to do, while Americans don't. On one hand it's seen as really exciting and unknown, on the other as exciting, but quite standard—a rite of passage. On one it is seen as indulgent and perhaps career suicide/financial ruin, on the other as an opportunity to learn and actually often as an opportunity for career advancement, or the possibility to earn some Euros/pounds and bring them back home. To my lovely U.S. friends . . . yes this is a generalization, and to my multilingual U.S. Peace Corps friends (and others) . . . you don't really fit my generalizations, this I know.
As a dual citizen, and one who has now spent 2/3 of my life in New Zealand, and 1/3 in the States, I have begun to feel the niggling worries. Luckily, my NZ nonchalance wins out. So, let me explain it, to all those thinking I'm crazy.
What I want out of this year/two years/however long:
* To be at least bilingual (French). I want to develop advantages over my monolingual peers. I want denser grey matter. . . who knows what I could apply that brain power to.
* To be able to grow my own food, organically. And keep bees. So far my bee experiments have failed.
* To survive biking long distance and camping by myself--when I'm not really a bike or camping person (yet!)
* To be able to give a sense of scale and perspective and understanding to global issues as they come up, books I've read or am yet to read, movies I've seen, because I've been there, talked to those people, and experienced some small bit of what they experience each day.
And that's about it, really. Of course there will be a million tiny things I gain from this journey. But these are the check boxes. Language. Food. Comfort Zone. Knowledge.
M.
In the United States, when I told people (prepare for mass generalisations forthcoming) that I was going to travel around the world by myself, hiking, biking, camping, staying in hostels, contacting strangers via couchsurfer and staying at their houses, going to live in countries where I didn't speak the language . . . I got a particular string of reactions.
"Aren't you scared?"
"Aren't you excited!"
"Wow, I could never do that"
"You have to do that while you're young"
"Isn't that a little indulgent?"
"Have you thought about x?"
"I'm so excited for you"
This website may have been forwarded my way from a particular friend (you know who you are :) )
When I explained this same plan to New Zealanders, I got quite a different set of responses.
"Oh yeah, I've done that""Cool. Yeah, I've been there. It's awesome"
"That's so exciting"
"I/(my brother/mother/father/neighbour/friend/grandma/relative/hairdresser) did that/is doing that"
"I know a New Zealander there."
"I'm so excited for you"
Wikipedia explains a little more.
In general, New Zealanders just see this as a completely commonplace thing to do, while Americans don't. On one hand it's seen as really exciting and unknown, on the other as exciting, but quite standard—a rite of passage. On one it is seen as indulgent and perhaps career suicide/financial ruin, on the other as an opportunity to learn and actually often as an opportunity for career advancement, or the possibility to earn some Euros/pounds and bring them back home. To my lovely U.S. friends . . . yes this is a generalization, and to my multilingual U.S. Peace Corps friends (and others) . . . you don't really fit my generalizations, this I know.
As a dual citizen, and one who has now spent 2/3 of my life in New Zealand, and 1/3 in the States, I have begun to feel the niggling worries. Luckily, my NZ nonchalance wins out. So, let me explain it, to all those thinking I'm crazy.
What I want out of this year/two years/however long:
* To be at least bilingual (French). I want to develop advantages over my monolingual peers. I want denser grey matter. . . who knows what I could apply that brain power to.
* To be able to grow my own food, organically. And keep bees. So far my bee experiments have failed.
* To survive biking long distance and camping by myself--when I'm not really a bike or camping person (yet!)
* To be able to give a sense of scale and perspective and understanding to global issues as they come up, books I've read or am yet to read, movies I've seen, because I've been there, talked to those people, and experienced some small bit of what they experience each day.
And that's about it, really. Of course there will be a million tiny things I gain from this journey. But these are the check boxes. Language. Food. Comfort Zone. Knowledge.
M.
