Traveling Around The World – How Traveling Has Changed Since The Last Millenium And People Have Not

Traveling internationally in the new millenium is very different than it was in the past. Security is tighter at the airports and the rules don’t seem to make sense many times. Whoever would have believed that we would be removing our shoes, belts and jackets in order to be allowed to get to our gate?

The only thing that has remained the same is the people. It is still a pleasure to meet people from all over the world while I am traveling around the world. I like to find out as much as I can about them and find out how we are different and what we share in common. We all seem to be much more similar than I ever would have thought, and share many of the same beliefs and fundamental values.

The city I enjoy visiting the most is Amsterdam in the Netherlands. People from around the globe come together there, passing through the city and the airport on their way to their final destination. The airport resembles a small city, with food from all over the world and many cultures, a casino with simulcasts of horse races, designer clothing stores, an art museum, therapeutic massages and chocolate. There is lots and lots of chocolate. As you make your way through the concourses you hear languages of every type and people dressed in their traditional clothing. You can also purchase tulips, the state flower of Holland. They are in every color and variety and can be easily checked through customs to bring home as a gift.

Beagle dogs wind their way through the crowd, sniffing out contraband in tourist’s luggage. Smugglers have learned how to hide marijuana and hash in chocolate so that they can more easily hide it from the Beagle Brigade. The dogs are taught to avoid the chocolate because eating it can be fatal for them.

On one of my visits to Europe I ended up once again in Amsterdam. A confused traveler was trying to communicate with someone in customs and I was asked to help. I speak Spanish, not fluently but well enough to communicate. This woman spoke only Spanish. Everyone else spoke English, Dutch, German, French and even some more obscure languages, but no Spanish. The woman explained her situation to me in Spanish and I told the officials the story in English. Everything was cleared up and we all went on our way. I was happy that I, a practically monolingual American, was able to help the Europeans in such a way.

Traveling all over the world broadens your horizons and widens your perspective on just about everything. Being exposed to a multitude of other cultures is a good way to rethink your own values and beliefs. Perhaps if more people could learn to know each other under such circumstance we would have a better understanding and tolerance of other people. Sometimes the differences between all of us are not as much as we might believe.

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