Journal 9

Journal 9 – Holy cow, Batman! Who would have guessed that travel writing (and indeed traveling) could be a business? Pick two styles of travel that we have identified so far and discuss the similarities and differences between each.

 

            The two different style of travel that I have identified with is Rick Steve’s “Faithful Travel” and Pico Iyer’s article about why we travel. I feel very connected to both styles of writing because they both demonstrate the effect travel has on a person. They are both completely different kinds of travel because one is just traveling for the experience and the other is traveling to help others all around the world. I think I connect to both travelers’ style because I have done both kinds of travels.

              I connect with Steve’s traveling and adventures because he helps out people while traveling at the same time. This made me think of the time I went on a mission trip to West Virginia for my youth group at church. I have to admit I was hesitant about going on this trip at all because I was not sure I would gain anything from the experience, but I knew I wanted to help people that are less fortunate than me. Much like Steve’s says in his video where travel to him “is spiritual and brings people together” (Steves). I like his view on travel because it is not all about the actual place you’re visiting, rather it is about the people and culture you are surrounded by. That was my favorite part about going to West Virginia because I really got to know some amazing families and experience a new way of life. It really made me understand how blessed and fortunate I truly am and I think that is so important when traveling. Although, I think it is necessary to understand and learn a new way of life; I think it is just important to realize how amazing your own culture is as well.

            The opposite of Steve’s idea of travel would be Iyer’s because he discusses his love for travel, but in a different way. It is not how the people changed him; it is about how the whole experience changed him as a person. Iyer states that” yet for me the first great joy of traveling is simply the luxury of leaving all my beliefs and certainties at home, and seeing everything I thought I knew in a different light, and from a crooked angle” (Iyer 1). He finds joy in the new and amazing things that different cultures have to offer. Although, I do think that the two travelers are similar because Iyer also says that, “but for the rest of us, the sovereign freedom of traveling comes from the fact that it whirls you around and turns you upside down, and stands everything you took for granted on its head” (Iyer 1). I think that both authors demonstrate how we sometimes do take for granted the amazing things that America has to offer compared to other countries.