Barriers to Travel
“Barriers to Travel”
For some, the reasons why we don’t travel more often is a serious impediment to getting out there. It could be lack of resources (monetary or knowledge), barriers we put up (not able to speak another language), fear of the unknown (customs/traditions in another land). All of these reasons are real and prohibit many of the novices from visiting far away destinations.
If language is your barrier, there are plenty of native English-speaking countries to visit. Most habitual travelers will tell you if you make the effort to interact with the locals by remembering a few phrases in the native language it goes along way to make the language barrier evaporate. If we make an effort a few times a day to say out loud, and write 3 or 4 useful phrases for a month before travel, it is learned fairly easily. An example, “hello, my name is…”, “I am looking for the bus/train station”, “where is (famous site — museum, castle, etc.)”, and just as important, how to say, “thank you”. In most cases (I learned from experience), your pronunciation of your question, the local will know you don’t really speak the language and often will just answer you in English.
Try it, it really works.
Think about it in the reverse, if you are stopped by Brazilian tourists and they only ask you in Portuguese how they can find the local bus, I’m sure you would think they were not so bright. If we change this “scene” the tourist, even in a broken English asks where the bus is, you will likely realize they are in need of assistance, you do your best to help.
It is the same if you go to Rome, ask a local on the street in your best version of Italian makes a lot of difference. Fortunately for Americans, English is widely used. Consider it a common courtesy to make the effort.
If your barrier to travel is the cost, it is a common to think it is expensive to travel to Taiwan or to Australia. It is if you only rely on what you read in advertisements. If you are a student, there are many companies that specialize in offering package tours to students. Many large universities alumni also have “travel agencies” (notice the quotes) offering set destination tours. For seniors, there are a multitude of travel services specializing in reduced fares for groups of retirees. And for those of us in between, there are many creative ways to travel on a budget (more in future blogs on this topic and resources). One option increasing in popularity is volunteer based travel. There are numerous organizations offering assistance to far flung destinations we haven’t heard of before. It is important to do your homework about the organization before signing up. Check their credibility and know what is expected of you prior to signing up for the volunteer program.
If your barrier is uneasiness about what one can do or say in certain countries, there is a wealth of resources to learn more about the “do’s and don’ts”. The U.S. state department website is an expansive resource about travel warnings, a specific country’s relationship with the United States and what is required to travel to and from country to country. A method I learned from a fellow traveler, search online for cultural groups, communities or social events locally. In Los Angeles, New York especially there is sure to be one of the mentioned sources for you to learn more about a distant land. An example, if you want to go to Russia there is a sizeable community in several U.S. cities. You can go undercover if you are uncomfortable. Find a Russian market or restaurant and ask questions about the foods. Most often the host will be pleased to share their favorites and if you are skilled at chatting people up they may offer other items on the menu for you to try or tell you about a festival next month in the neighborhood.
We as Americans have the unique ability to cross many cultures in a single day just by navigating our home towns. It’s a wise idea to experience a flavor of a country locally before jetting away to an unfamiliar locale, unless that’s your thing.
