My Analysis of Travel

I’ve often found journaling to be therapeutic and enlightening. Writing out my thoughts helps me organize them and frequently learn from them. With each new journal entry, I am brought into a state of reflection. A moment separate from the fast-paced course of each day – a moment to reflect on myself and those around me. Now more than ever before I am now beginning to understand just how important it is for us to think about the roles that we play particularly when we travel. What kind of footprint or impression do we leave behind? What we are taking away from our experiences? And, how we can be better travelers (and better people in general)?

With reflection comes action. 

More than ever I want to strive to be the smartest tourist I can be. I want to be as kind, respectful, responsible, aware, open, vulnerable, non-judgmental, and curious as I can possibly be when I am traveling. I do not want to be seen as the “ugly tourist” Jamaica Kincaid mentions in her “A Small Place.” I now understand just how self-absorbed people can be when they’re traveling, they don’t care about the world around them, and that makes them ugly. I do not want to fall into this category. As Kristin Weis so nicely put it in her TEDx Talk “Smart Tourism: How to Be a Smart Tourist” when I‘m traveling I want to “see the world as gracious hosts instead of products (that I) consume.” 

With action comes change. 

I can already see myself applying the lessons that I’ve learned to my everyday life. From hours of self-reflection to further researching to taking action to change the way I carry myself when I am traveling. I know that these lessons will serve me well when I pursue my dream of skiing on all 7 continents, when I study abroad, when I go on vacations, and when I’m working internationally. With my new found outlook on life and the world of travel, I am eager to get out there and chase my own adventures, open my mind, my eyes, and my heart to the limitless possibilities.