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That's funny because I had the same feeling originally about there being no normal. But, when I traveled more, I came to a completely different conclusion. Maybe you will too? I've travelled extensively over the last decade before settling down about a year ago - I spent time in Europe (west and east), Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Subsaharan Africa, the Amazon and North America. What I find fascinating is that you can figuratively draw sets of what each culture cares about. The intersection is, more-or-less, what it means to be human. Obviously you need a significantly large sample size, but broadly speaking everyone wants somewhere comfortable to sleep and family and trusted, non-familial companions. Everyone wants what they consider to be good food (although the definition of 'good' changes somewhat). Everyone wants to look after their kids and have some sort of ritual to pass on knowledge culture and usually possessions to their offspring. Most cultures have music and dancing of some sort - both participatory and as entertainment. Every culture wants what it considers impressive to be considered impressive by outsiders. Every culture I've seen is more open to outsiders when they smile - I've learned to smile, to use body language and to relax more in unfamiliar surroundings. Once I started to see these commonalities, I realised what's unique about my own culture - I started to understand myself better, and see myself more in relation to the society in which I was embedded. I became kinder, and more understanding of people seeming stupid or ill-educated; I became less tolerant of people behaving aggressively or using status-hierarchies to dominate others. And, like you, I became more creative and outgoing. I suggest keeping a diary of your attitudes, if you can. Travel diaries are very cool :-) |
I do hate the elitist aspect of travel though. In a way it's sort of like experimenting with drugs, you really can't have a say on the experience unless you've actually done it.
I've had to be very careful about who I talk to about my travels because I've noticed that even the kindest people can become apprehensive. They act like I'm questioning their knowledge/experience/worth if they are less well-traveled than me. If anyone has any tips for dealing with this please let me know. Note that I'm already very sensitive to the subject and never bring it up unless asked and even then keep the details to a minimum.