Culture through the eyes of a Traveler

Loaded words. Everyone is trying so hard to be politically correct. People from the United States try to be very politically correct. We are taught not to be racist, not to judge, and above all, that everyone is created equally. I think sometimes it is hard to travel, or continue to travel, or see many many many different cultures and continue to think this. I am not saying one becomes racist, or hates humanity, but that a travel gains a sense that people are created differently. I am not saying that any human being lacks potential. I am saying enculturation and socialization of any given civilization or country really shapes a person. Maybe we are all created equally, but we are shaped differently. Traveling and studying anthropology changes how one views the world, and often destroys many ideals and preconceptions of humanity.

Thinking on the Alan Cornes text Culture From the Inside Out, his identification of different traveler stereotypes really struck a chord in me. I think when most people start to travel they are the “Please like me” sojourner. This is a person who thinks everyone is friendly and should get along. They are very trusting, think people need help, think they can help the people, etc. They have a politically correct view point, and maybe not a realistic view point of the world. Andy is not this person.

Today I spent time with Andy from hobotraveler.com. He has been traveling steadily for over 10 years to about 77 countries he says. The kind of traveling he does is NOT normal. He does not have a home. He is constantly traveling from one country to the next. There is no going home. He does not do the normal tourist things either. He is not on a constant vacation. He doesn’t go to a country to go ziplining through the Amazon, or see a particular tourist sight. For this reason, he usually does not go to normal tourist destination. He does however interact with the people more than I have ever seen anyone else while traveling. He talks to everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, or all sexes, male, female, and even the lady boys of Thailand.

He has learned to live a different way than most people. He has had to develop different skills, and a different set of rules to view the world. With this he brings a lot of insight. He cannot be politically correct. Simply, he would not be able to continue traveling if he did this. He has an ability to see the world in a unique light.

With this he brings a lot of insight. He cannot keep many traits that are a part of USA culture. He cannot be an idealist. He cannot completely believe that all humans were created equally, or at least shaped equally. With having such a broad view of such a myriad of cultures this just is not possible. He has learned just how different cultural morals, ideals, values, religions, customs and life is around the world. There is no standard.

So, Andy is an interesting person to listen to. His commentary on the world often forces the listener to stretch their world view in ways that are often uncomfortable. Tonight he was introduced to other students on the CRC program. As he talked, I watched their eyes widening and their bodies shaking with what he said. Some of his opinions can be so shattering that you feel the effects racking through your body. Your own view of the world begins shaking and causing a deep feeling, often putrid in a way, like you are about to throw up. In a sense, one does throw up as they regurgitate their cosmovision in words, in a response, almost so physically that the words seem to spill out onto the table, thick and heavy, maybe gruesome.
I think one of the hardest things about talking to Andy is that he speaks the truth. Or maybe, let me phrase it a little differently. He speaks in a way coming from a person who has dealt with over 77 different cultures for an extended period of time, in a way that he tries to present as unbiased by cultural standards of politeness or politically correctness. Maybe this is hard for me to explain and formulate into words. His words often scream, “the fact of the matter is…”

For example he was talking about “factories in foreign countries.” To many, this equates to sweat shops. Andy has probably seen and been inside and talked to more people who work in “factories” around the world than all of the CRC students combined. He has a huge repertoire of experiences that he can use as a comparative study of “factories” around the world. He is thinking of starting a “factory” to produce backpacks. He is thinking of putting this factory in a country other than the USA or Europe.

In one students mind, this equated to “sweat shop.” He fully knows that his reason for his factory’s location IS based on cheaper wages. In our USA encultured mind this means sweat shop. Sweat shop means bad. That means Andy must be bad. Basic reaction.

“What about the worker’s rights? Why don’t you pay them decent wages?” The student asks. I could literally witness their reaction welling of from the core of their belief system, like a shock radiating out until it reached her mind and her words bounced out.

Andy knows this is a loaded question. Andy knows his own culture, and how his own culture views the world.

He responds in a very matter of fact way. “I know what you think, and I do try to pay my workers better wages. But you have to look at the implications and effects of my actions. I am going to another country where they have a different set of standards. Have you ever been to a factory or so called “sweat shop?” Did the workers look like they didn’t want to be there? Would there be happier if they weren’t there? What else would they do? Is there anywhere else they could work? I want to pay my workers fairly, so I pay them 25% more than the average daily wages of the country. I cannot pay them more than that or else it would be culturally insensitive. It would not work. I would be viewed as a rich a$$hole. If I pay them less than what is fair, I will be exploiting them. By paying them a little more it makes everybody happy, but I cannot pay them too much more or else it would cause problems. People in other countries want to work. If I build a factory somewhere and put people to work I am creating a job for them, a way for them to make a living.”

Does this make sense to American culture? Does it make sense in the world? He thinks giving people work and paying them a little more than they would normally earn is a good thing.

Andy likes people. Andy’s motto is “life is good.” Andy likes the world. Andy thinks the world is good and doing just fine. Andy is happy. How many people can say that?
Where does travel really take the traveler? Are travelers merely visiting other cultures and countries or are they visiting a place inside themselves? Sometimes travel shakes darkness inside a person and stirs up hidden feelings and beliefs. It urges us to take a look from another person’s eyes, even if that view is so contradictory to our own sunglasses that it is uncomfortable and painful. This reevaluates our own cultures, and sometimes wipes off the dust that may have built up on our sunglasses, or prescribes a totally new prescription lens altogether. The world rocks the traveler’s “world.”