A reflection on what travel means to me as well as information on my involvement in The Passport Party Project initiative.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
It goes without saying that I love all that travel has brought to my life; travel has taught me so many things about the world, about others, and about myself. Take, for example, the quote above. It’s because of travel and exposure to cultures unlike my own that I have learned to be tolerant, accepting of our perceived differences, and open-minded.
The effects travel has had on my life are many in number. It’s because of travel that I have learned to be slow to judge and quick to empathise; travelling has given me the opportunity to learn and perfect languages of countries I could only dream of visiting when I was a child. It is thanks to travel that I started this blog and a career in international education; teaching and travelling have allowed me to develop friendships that span continents and deepen over time. Travel has even lead me to one of my most treasured relationships: if I hadn’t moved across the world to teach I never would have met the man I will soon marry.
People ask me why I like travelling so much, and how I don’t seem to tire of it. I tell them that it’s all the learning and the growing I do when I’m on the road. There’s also the excitement, the unexpected encounters that take place, the endless possibilities that stretch far and wide beyond me like an ocean. For these reasons, and more, travel is important to me, travel never seems to get old.
The Passport Party Project
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll know that last month I announced my involvement in a really cool project I hold dear to my heart, especially given my background. I’ve recently signed on as an Advisory Board Member and Mentor for Phase 2 of the Passport Party Project, an award-winning grassroots initiative that provides online global awareness training, first passports, and first time international travel experiences to underserved American girls aged 11 to 15.
Founded by impassioned activist and 2013 National Geographic Traveler of the Year Tracey Friley, the PPP’s aim is to create responsive global citizens, to expand young women’s world view through international travel, and to bring them to understand the power the passport holds and the responsibility it entails. As one of 20 advisor-mentors, I will help facilitate this important journey, from assisting the girls in applying for their first passport, to readying them for their first international trip. I can’t wait!
Bonjour, La Guadeloupe!
Even more thrilling is the destination selected for the newly minted global citizens: the islands of Guadeloupe! Graduates of the PPP will get their first passport stamp in these delightful French islands found in the Caribbean. Accommodation sponsor Homeway is graciously providing a home base from which the girls will be able to explore the five island archipelago, while the Guadeloupe Islands Tourist Board is preparing an itinerary that will give them a taster of the best this nation has to offer. Some images of paradise courtesy of the tourism board:
If the pictures aren’t enough to stir up your curiosity (and perhaps a twinge of jealousy), the tourism board has produced a seven-part video series that showcases the wonder and beauty of the islands. The fourth instalment can be found here.
As a traveller and a teacher who works with youth, I’m honoured to be a part of such an initiative, and as someone whose life has been shaped by travel, I am excited to witness first-hand the learning and growth these young ladies will experience as they take the world by storm.
Has travel been instrumental in your life? How?
41 Comments
Travel has affected my life in the same ways it’s affected yours, and like you, without travel, I wouldn’t have met my Jamaican husband of 6 years! So I’m hoping that the PPP girls’ first experience traveling abroad will change them forever and show them that the world really is a book in that it has so much to offer!
I love this project! I had never heard of it but I think it’s amazing that something like this exists, I’m so happy for these girls that will get to experience travel for the first time!!!
You’d better believe it! My mother was a globetrotter so it was already in my blood but I started by going to some other European country at the weekend while at university. The big stuff started after graduation when I went to live in then Czechoslovakia, and that was it. The door was well, and truely opened LOL!
I’m enormously happy that young girls will get to have their doors opened too!
Travel can really change your life and open your heart. I truly believe in the power of the passport and am extremely excited about the #PassportPartyProject ‘s mission. I know that the lucky girls that will visit beautiful Guadeloupe will have a life changing experience.
It’s an honour to have you on the team, Oneika. =)
Travel shaped me into the person I am today. And for me, it has been more about a lifestyle than anything else, which means there is no frenzy associated with travel, no country counting, no travel elitism, and very few press trips. Travel is merely a part of who I am, much like my arms and legs are a part of my body. I would not be the same without them….
Blessings,
This is so impressive!
Yeye Lynvonne- Marian Hayes
WCSUiHeart radio
Travel has changed my life in many of the ways it has yours. I wouldn’t have met my partner or had the opportunities or experiences that I’ve come to hold dear. As well as making many friendships and just having an overall global outlook on life. This sounds like an amazing project and they chose the right person to join, Enjoy!
Thanks Melissa! I wouldn’t have met you either were it not for travel, lucky me. 🙂
What a cool project! all the best to the young ladies who get to experience this. Travel has changed me in so many ways! thanks to it I have had some of the most amazing experiences of my life, I have seen amazing places and met interesting people that I never would have imagined coming across. The best part of it all is that travel has enabled me to get outside my comfort zone and be more open and accepting of the unfamiliar.
I agree with you — I love how travel stretches our horizons!
Got interested in travel way back as my dad would travel all over the world for medical conferences and we would pore over the atlas; cities and maps naming where countries were..I never imagined that I would travel as a blogger..but it’s fun, keeps me less stressed out, grants me exposure to different countries and their own inquest characters..I’m glad fir opportunities to travel, and well done to the girls for this start…
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