"It's a small world" was my favorite childhood song. Well, I guess it struck a chord in my heart! Now-a-days with the internet the world really is small. However I have a small-world meeting of a special nature, a meeting of two Chat, Chew & Chocolate life-style experts from two very far-away continents. It was my pleasure to meet Amilie Taylor, Fair -Trade lifestyle expert in person in Chiang Mai, Thailand! Amilie is from New Zealand and I'm from California. It is meetings such as these that truly inspire me and remind me that together we can really make a difference in this world. We had a pretty UNSTOPPABLE visit over some curry and of course some imported chocolate! It is with great pleasure and inspiration that I invite Amilie to guest "write" on the Travel and Culture Trends page. I'm excited to read about her thoughts, experiences and inspirations during her adventures. The floor is yours girl!
I was bought up with the travel urge cursing through my veins by parents who taught me it is completely possible to make a difference in this world ... turns out Gina is pretty much the same. "Guest" writing on each others pages since we agree on so many ideals and values, seemed like a brilliant idea.
So I looked up travel on Dictionary.com.
Origin: 1325-75; (Scottish) orig. the same word as TRAVAIL (to toil, labour, to make laborious journey)
How interesting. It also says, verb (used with object): to travel, or pass through or over, as a country or road. It got me thinking, you can easily pass over a place when you travel, but you have the choice to pass through. This gives me the idea that these are two very different ways of traveling.
Do not get me wrong, I think that there is a time and a place for passing over. Passing through however, has the ability to affect you, alter your thinking, your belief systems, and your way of life. And as the origin suggests, to toil and make a laborious journey, it is not always easy and plain sailing when you choose to go deep into a culture unfamiliar to your own.
Pretty photos and some souvenirs aren't really going to hit any nerves are they?
I was fortunate enough to be raised in Papua New Guinea, the eldest of four children, by missionary parents. We have the photos, we have the souvenirs, but most of all we have that culture carved into our memories and our heritage. But just because we lived there doesn't automatically mean that we went deep into their culture, that, I believe is still a choice.
It is the culture there for expatriates to employ a house-maid (haus-meri) to help with the house work. Indy made it easier for Mum with the heat and stress of living in 35'C heat and 90% humidity with four small kids. Indy was a part of our family, her little girl was best friends with my youngest sister (who was then 18 months old) She ate with us, talked with us, gave us fresh fruit every day, corrected our Pigin, supported us and smiled so wide that we just caught her happiness.
I was only 10 at the time but I remember going to a friends house from school (also expatriates) who also had a haus-meri. She was so thirsty that day and they wouldn't let her in the kitchen let alone give her a glass of chilled water. They handed her an unwashed peanut butter jar half full of warm water through the security bars on the window. My heart was crushed. I was embarrassed to be an ex-pat kid (not for the first time either)
Did these people taste the richness of a third world culture? I think not. Did I? Absolutely. It wasn't easy either. I lived in fear for 5 years, I watched both parents fight for their lives there, I saw sickness wipe away people I knew, I got a paralyzing fear of earthquakes and thunderstorms. But I also got my mind expanded and molded into something quite different than 'the kids at home.'
I told Gina that moving back to New Zealand at nearly 16 years old was not easy for me. The way I described it was 'You cannot fit a global mindset back into a national box'. She reckons it is a bumper sticker waiting to happen (brilliant!) It is just the way I see it though. I didn't fit 'the mold'. I still don't.
I am writing this from Norway (having traveled from NZ to Australia, Thailand, the UK to get here) and feel like a huge sponge again. I am learning things every day about how I could do things differently. I have inspiration because my eyes are opened again to new ideas. I am happy because I am out of my comfort zone and seeing the world through different eyes.
You can see it, take photos home, buy some tacky souvenirs and never really see the place.
I dare you to jump in the deep end, do something crazy, try speak the language, get off the beaten tourist track, speak to the old locals ... they will have some good stories.
Ha det!
For more fabulous information from Amilie, check out her website: www.trustyle.co.nz.