In 2010 I made a goal to travel to 50 countries by the time I am 50. On a professor salary, you don’t have a lot of money to splurge, and my first principle of travel is that it is economical and affordable. So, I have flown free on American Airlines to China twice, traveled on Iceland Air to London for less than $500, and on Delta to Nigeria for free, and on Ryan Air to Morocco for less than $35. I have also done several free cruises too.
Traveling for me is not counting the number of places I have visited, it is discovering my blindspots. As a global citizen traveling the world, I become aware of how ignorant I am of our world, and this helps me understand myself and my place in the world. I bring my experiences of traveling to my research and in my classrooms where I help my students to see their own blindspots!
This leads me to my other cardinal principles of traveling:
Do not judge other cultures! It is easy to pass judgment on people who live or do things differently from us. Rather than judge, I ask an honest question, why might they be doing things this way?
Listen! Professors can be poor listeners because they think they have the answers. When traveling, I learn to listen to the people, cultures, and traditions of places I visit to hear what they might teach me. No one society has a monopoly of knowledge or systems of knowledge productions. I have to listen and appreciate the locally produced knowledge.
Try local cuisines! Eat the food of the people that I visit. When in China, I don’t look for Thai or Indian food, even though these are my favorite cuisines! Food is an essential doorway to any culture.
Try to speak the local language! You might be terrible in learning languages but just knowing a few phrases or words and using them shows that you are interested in the people.
I welcome other professors who might want to blog about their travel experiences, even if it’s for research!