Most depressing news ever..

I found this article on CNN the other day and as a lover of travel, it broke my heart.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/02/04/americans.travel.domestically/index.html?hpt=C2

The article does have a point, there are many places left in the US that I am absolutely dying to go and with skiing, beaches, history, and huge cities you could spend your whole life traveling the 50 states.

But that does not mean you should!

I have been to many places that make most Americans incredibly queasy but it is this ignorance that stems from not going anywhere that is such a large part of the problem.

For example when I went to Zanzibar which is a luxury resort island of the coast of Tanzania all of my American friends offered words of caution. Meanwhile most European friends who had heard of Zanzibar and could locate it on a map were simply just jealous. Since only 30% of Americans have passports that means only 30% of Americans can only have hoped to travel to Africa. This means a majority of Americans are getting any information they have on Africa from the media- and the media only covers what sells- the conflicts. Africa is a giant continent and while some parts of it are currently unstable, this is not the case for every country (there are over 50 of them!) So with less Americans traveling they had no idea that I was simply going to paradise.

This ignorance that stems from not traveling creates additional problems as well. When Americans don't travel they are not exposed to new cultures and therefore any misconceptions they have developed from one sided stories are not rectified. America has a significant role to play in the international community, how can we expect to make a positive impact if we are operating based on misconceptions? The only way you can really get to even hope to understand a culture is to be a part of it, and if Americans are not traveling they are remaining completely ignorant of what the rest of the world is actually like.

My dad is a pretty good example of how beneficial traveling can be. While it was easy to get him to places such as Ireland and the UK getting him to places more out of his comfort zone has been a tremendous task. However each time he has gone (dragging his feet the whole way) he ends up having an amazing time and talks about going back. My dad has formed his opinions based on the limited information he has received from the mass media, however once he has actually experienced the culture he has realized that there is more than what is exposed in the American media.

If you don't have a passport, go out and get one. Once you begin to experience the world outside of America you will be glad you did!