That
evening, when I got off the bus in the wrong place after a severely delayed
13-hour flight, I had second thoughts, but ultimately traveling alone as ateenager turned out to be a seminal part of my youth.
Life
in Tokyo was full of hurdles: navigating the subway, deciphering food labels
and getting through the day without committing some grave faux pas. I was
working, too, so rather than simply being a tourist, I actively participated in
the society.
Working
meant that on top of basic self-sufficiency I had to collaborate and
communicate with Japanese colleagues. At an age when many can scarcely get to
work at the Gap on time, I suddenly had to meet life’s challenges on my own.
Growing
Up
Some
travel skills I learned by trial and error, but overall I was surprised by my
own competency. Travel quickly showed me just what, and how much, I was capable
of doing by myself.
I
became emotionally self-sufficient, too. A photographer once asked me if I
missed my family, and when I replied that I did, he said “You love your family,
but you need to learn to be at peace by yourself.”
At
the time the comment bugged me – I didn’t want to be told how to feel. But
later I realized that he was right. My homesickness never subsided, but I
learned to accept that I missed my home and family, and move beyond that
homesickness to become whole as an individual.
Open
to Interpretation
At the same time, the vulnerability
I felt being away from home for the first time made me hyper-aware of the
fascinating new world around me.
I
examined everything: objects, clothing, building, customs. The first thing I
noticed was difference. Who knew there were so many ways to look at the same
things?
I
noticed that aesthetics are very important in Japan (everything from manhole
covers to warning signs are made to be admired) and that almost no one wears
hats.
Then
I started to notice more subtle characteristics of the culture, like the
avoidance of saying no: my Japanese acquaintances greatly preferred the term
“maybe.” They also thanked people effusively for even the slightest favor.
I
realized that everything from pace of life to social priorities to job
preferences was open to interpretation.
A
Global Classroom
I
ran across few other Americans, but was surrounded by people from all other
parts of the world, exposing me to even more alternative perspectives.
Conversations
were speckled, if not centered on, comparisons of our home countries and native
ways of doing things, be it sentence structure or the traditional age of
marriage.
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Not
surprisingly, I learned a lot about the driver’s licenses, school systems, and
age related legislation of various countries, and gained a whole new
appreciation for the dominance of American entertainment, stores, and fads.
Following
the promptings of my guidebook I frequently found myself in museums, and came
to realize that I like art, in a way that has never resonated with me before.
Away and alone, I strolled through the aisles, talking to no one and paying
attention to nothing but the artwork. I settled into a quasi-meditative state
of mind in which the artwork seemed to hit a raw nerve.
At
the same time I was taking in large amounts of historical data. I absorbed the
history of the Shoguns and became quite versed in the Meji Emperorship. I saw
Kabuki performances, though I had no idea what the characters were saying, andvisited countless shrines and temples.
Question
Everything!
Unfamiliarity
and solitude are a great incubator for thought. With my new exposure to such a
wide variety of outlooks I had to think about and question many things which
had previously seemed concrete.
I was struck by differences in
public policy; how come some countries have universal health care while others
do not? Why is college astronomically expensive in the U.S.? Why are bike
riding and letting children walk to school alone considered so dangerous in my
native New York, while both are commonplace in Tokyo?
Japanese
people seemed, overall, to be high achievers, placing a heavy emphasis on
academic and professional success. Life was faster here than in the States, and
busier too.
Noticing such difference led me to
ask myself important questions:
What is important to me?
How do I want to live?
Where do I belong?
How do I want to live?
Where do I belong?
I
benefited from my youthfulness in that traveling didn’t just make me think,
“Wow, there are so many ways of life out there.” Instead, experiencing foreign
cultures while perched at the beginning of adulthood, everything I saw was
still possible for me to apply to my own life.
All
too often I hear older adults lamenting time spent on dead-end tracks to
supposed success; traveling in my adolescence has shown me from the start the
full range of what life has to offer.
The
exposure to foreign cultures that I gained early on preempted my cultural
biases and “us and them” thinking, and liberated me from the notion that there
is only one right way of doing things.
Discover
the World…And Yourself
Travelingis about discovery and finding oneself, for people of any age. But when you
travel as a young person, you’re raw material, constantly being shaped, and all
that you see, hear, and do has a profound impact on the rest of your life.
At
my age, people like to say, you’re naive, not yet disillusioned about the
world, and think that “because it feels right” is a suitable reason for action.
Well,
what better attitude to maintain as you explores the world? We teens see the
world as a limitless opportunity. When you travel, that’s the way it trulyis
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