Alli Leong
Mr. Jones
July 24, 2007
Published Piece
I don't think that I will ever complain about traveling. Exploring other countries of this vast world is a fascinating and exciting adventure. As a wonderful opportunity for spending time with family, traveling also helps me develop an open mind about other cultures and teaches me the unique ways in which people live. Each new food or activity that I try teaches me not to be afraid of the unusual or the unknown and inspires me to continue experimenting. After I visit each new destination, I can take home the valuable ideas I have learned and apply them to enrich my own life.
Traveling is one of the reasons why my family stays so close. We truly enjoy each other's company, even on endless tour bus rides. In Portugal, we took turns getting carsick on the bus. Pretty soon everybody in the bus had thrown up. We still make fun of my uncle, notorious for getting carsick, who started the chain reaction.
We also tease my cousin because bizarre things happen to her everywhere she goes. It began in Austria, when she lost her sunglasses; she replaced them over and over again, only to lose them the next day. Then in Italy, she locked herself in the bathroom of a restaurant. It took a strong waiter and a hammer to finally break down the door. In Canada, she hit her head on a tree, and in Spain, she drank to the bottom of her soda and found her cup to be filled with beer bottle caps. Although none of these quirky events were spectacular or earth-shattering, they carry significant meaning because they form the glue that bonds our family.
Spending time with family is great, but I also enjoy traveling for a number of other reasons. There is nothing like trying new authentic cuisines. Sometimes, trying a new food is an adventure of its own. In Japan, I learned that sushi is not something eaten regularly. Instead, soba noodles, slippery and cold with an indistinguishable salty yet sweet taste, are found at every meal. In Spain, when the waiter arrived at our table with a plate of black octopus ink rice, I was reluctant to take a bite. It was unlike anything I have ever tasted. Although the plate took on the appearance of a pile of maggots, it was delicious, like seafood in the form of risotto, so fresh and sweet.
Despite our successes in discovering wonderfully delicious new delicacies, we have also made bad decisions when it comes to ordering food. When my dad made the first incision with his steak knife into his tripe at a little bistro in France, the whole room stank with the stench of animal feces. I tried a bite of the wretched organ meat, and as I chewed on the inch-long roll of pig intestine, I could only imagine what the half-digested contents of the sausage used to be. Having practically eaten animal excrement, I am no longer afraid of trying new foods. One can stick to the familiar hamburger and fries all his or her life, but I have learned that a bowl of steaming Japanese udon is as equally comforting as mashed potatoes or apple pie.
Traveling is also an opportunity to experience new activities and test one's limit for adventure. I had never dreamed of flying across a rainforest five hundred feet above the ground at fifty miles per hour, secured only by a harness and a mile long rope. However, in Costa Rica, I found myself not only zip-lining over the trees, but also repelling down hundred-foot water falls. In Japan, I let my self-consciousness go in the communal bath houses when I stripped myself naked in front of a dozen other nude women. Initially, I tried my best to cover up what I could with my tiny square-foot hand towel, but the women around me acted so carefree that they finally inspired my admiration, and I let go of it all. By the end of the trip, I was addicted to the invigorating and cleansing hot springs and eagerly embraced every soak in the therapeutic waters.
Exposure to the diverse cultures of the world can be a humbling experience. The way in which the Germans religiously separate their recycled wastes into five specific categories, rather than our sloppy paper and plastic, really puts us to shame. In Japan, English is not a widely spoken language, yet we always managed to find someone eager to help us despite our language and communications difficulties. The food stall owners in Costa Rica always threw in extra food with our orders.
The generosity and conscientious ways of people around the world teach us to be better individuals. Each new place that I visit and everything new that I try opens my eyes to new ways of living and makes me a more well rounded person. I don't think that I will ever complain about traveling.