The World, get out and see it!

So as I sit here dear reader, recovering from a fierce drilling administered by my friendly neighborhood dentist, I think about the travels I've undertaken in recent years. What amazes me at times is the reaction from my fellow countrymen and women upon learning of my voyages. Curiosity and surprise seem to be the most common, however occasionally I've encountered disinterest, and on one occasion, even anger that I would dare leave my country and venture off to foreign shores.

Take one such incident; a customer who frequently came into where I work had asked me where I had been the previous week. I said that I had vacation time, and I had gone away for a week. He asked where, and I told him that I had ventured to Stockholm, Sweden. This gentlemen actually became angry and said "how could you see another country before you see your own?". Actually the decision was relatively easy, I had seen quite a bit of this country on long drives to Canada in my youth, so it was time to head overseas and see what it was like on distant shores.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people say not only that they've never traveled, but have no interest in traveling outside the United States. As if somehow that once you board a plane, your patriotism becomes questionable. It's an idea that is absolutely ludicrous, and downright laughable. A recent statistic even said that only 20% of Americans have a passport. For quite some time, I've heard some in certain corners of the media portray a country like Sweden as some sort of backwards nether world, where citizens are forced to stand in line for goods, and life is a dreary march under the boot of a dictator. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's this view, however, that many cling to as justification for themselves not daring to travel out of their home and their comfort zone. And when some do, it's always to a tropical destination, which is in and of itself rather generic. Palm trees, sand, and water. Yeah, like I haven't seen that before.

Granted it is expensive to travel, however now with a little something called the internet, you can pretty much name your own price. Competition is fierce for your dollars, and all you have to decide is where, and how good accommodations you're willing to shell out for. No matter where you're going, it's good for you. You see something different, and you see it for the first time. It's a learning experience, and when you come back, you see the world with different eyes. Language barriers have now fallen, and much of the world speaks English. Granted it's always good to have a few choice phrases on hand, and technology helps.

Or you can be like one of my other customers, who thought Stockholm was a motorcycle event.