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.
Mary, thanks for sharing, your list of what you want out of this sounds awesome! In the interest of bucking the trend (well, really actually because I'm very very curious), I'd love to talk to you about your couchsurfer experiences once you have some under your belt. I'm very interested in trying it out, but it's the one travel plan on your list that I'm a bit wary of, and so I'd love to discuss with someone who's tried it out!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm assuming that you know about WWOOF (world wide opportunities on organic farms - wwoof.org), but since it's not explicitly mentioned on your list I want to put it out there just in case. It's absolutely the best way to travel cheap (or to travel at all, really), if you like playing in the dirt - and since food and ag are heavily featured in what you want to get out of this, it's a total no-brainer.
Good luck!
Erin Machell
Hey Erin,
ReplyDeleteTo be perfectly honest. I'd wager that most of my friends, those reading this blog, are not my generalized "American" . . . I think I gravitated towards a subset of people that don't really fit this generalization. However, I got enough of these responses that it was an obvious difference.
I *do* know about WWOOF :) And am planning on spending some time doing it. It's slightly different for me, because if I could find an appropriate organic farm, as I have a visa, I could actually do some paid work. But I imagine I'll probably do bits of both.
Will definitely let you know about the couchsurfing. I've also signed up for "warm showers" . . . terrible name I know. It's similar, but for people bicycle touring. Interesting stuff.
Later!
Mary
Ah, the coveted commonwealth affiliation! Why oh why was I born American?! (Okay, just kidding, I'm not really so ungrateful - but it's a bit killer since my dad had dual Canadian citizenship, and everyone else on his side is full Canadian, but I still can't parlay that into dual citizenship for myself!)
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! I've just caught up on all your posts and I am so excited to follow your blogging and travels. You'll have a great time, probably a few adventures, but hopefully not too adventurous. I love your attitude going into this. I wish more people who did this were as grounded as you are. It is amazing what international travel and living can do for someone who lets themselves fully experience it. Yay! I'll again suggest Zanzibar and northern Tanzania. You have to see Kili before all the glaciers melt off.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leslie.
ReplyDeleteI do think I will go to Tanzania and see some of Kili--not sure about the big climb, and to the coast to Zanzibar. I'm waiting to plan that for a little bit, because I got overwhelmed by geographical intake :) And some of it depends on when Diana is free to hang out.
Hugs to you and JB.
M