Blog 2 -- "Why We Travel"

I travel because I want to know who I am when I'm outside of my shell--I'll be in a completely new place that no one I know has been to. I want to discover new aspects of my personality that I never knew before. I want to be able to look up at the sky at night and see different stars. I want to go where I've never gone before, and enjoy myself while doing it. I travel so I can challenge myself. It helps to lose ourselves in the big picture, and see that it's not all about us. Also, we want to discover a new part of ourselves that, until this moment, we weren't aware of, and that we'd only find when we're thrust into a completely new and unfamiliar place.

What I think Iyer means is that the discovery we all search for is not out in the world somewhere, but in ourselves. I know that I want to discover something about myself, and I know that once I find that long-lost part of me, I'll never be the same again, and I'll never see the world the same way again.

Iyer feels, as do I, that you can only really fully experience a trip when you live it. Tourists don't live trips; they go to the famous places, the historical buildings, and they see what the country wants them to see. What Iyer means is that to truly live during your trip, you need to make mistakes. You need to feel fear when you find yourself in a difficult situation that you have no idea how to get out of, and then you need to find a way out of it. Fear defines us, and it shows who we are in our finest moments or our darkest hour.

 Yes, I do believe that travelers have a responsibility to share their knowledge and experience with all they visit and those they return to. A traveler, no matter how far he has traveled, has at least one story to tell, and it is unfair for him to withhold this information from his fellow people. However, I also believe that he should monitor himself, and not aggravate his listeners with careless or meaningless remarks about the dominance or power of his own country, compared to the lesser strength of the country he is residing in at the moment. Callousness is not appreciated.

"...I travel in large part in search of hardship--both my own, which I want to feel, and others', which I need to see." This quote is my favorite because I relate so well to it. I want to experience the places I go to, especially when it's difficult to be there, because I can overcome the obstacles and become that much wiser. And I need to see that I have so much, and am very blessed, while less fortunate people may not have as much. It puts my life into perspective.

                               

Blog 1 -- The Start of Something New

Hi, I'm Codie, and this is my blog. Um, a few things about me would be... I am 15 years old, and I have two older siblings, one brother (17) and one sister (21). I have six pets: four cats and two dogs. I had a guinea pig as well, but he died a few years ago. I used to have braces, but I've never needed glasses (although I like to wear them). I live with both of my parents and my siblings (except when my sister is at college). I like to sing, dance, make jokes, read, write poetry, and doodle. I dislike this spacebar because it keeps sticking and clumping words together likethis. When I see things IN ALL CAPS my inner voice reads it as shouting. I've never traveled outside of the country before, so going to Australia will be really exciting, especially since I'll be the first person in my family to go there. 

The reason I signed up for this course is because I've always loved seeing new places. I love to explore, but I never went very far from my house when I was growing up. We went to Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, and Indiana to visit my grandparents, go to family reunions, or for tri-state swim competitions. Then, in 2007, we flew to Arizona for my cousin's wedding. That was the first time I'd ever been on an airplane, and I loved it. Then, for spring break of 2009 (seventh grade), I traveled to Virginia with my class. Those were the two farthest distances I've ever been from home so far. As you can see, I've never been put of the country. However, I've always wanted to travel abroad. Also, my brother and sister have both been to other countries. My sister went to Japan, Spain, Italy, and other countries in Europe for AP Euro. My brother also went on the AP Euro trip, which took him to Germany, France, and Austria, among other places. Australia is one of the only continents that neither of them has gone to, and I want to be the first.

What I hope to learn from this experience is the broadening of my mind to other cultures and traditions. I've always loved different languages and people's accents, because it reminds me that the world is much larger than the small portion that I live in. I also hope to see just how different other countries can be from the U.S., and to see how different countries view us.

Australia specifically interests me because it originally started out as a prison colony for British convicts, which makes it pretty unique. Also, the whole continent itself is one country (not including New Zealand). The flight from Sydney to Los Angeles is about 13 hours long, and LA is 18 hours behind Sydney, so if you left Sydney at 10:00 AM on a Saturday, you'd get to LA at 4:00 PM on the Friday before. Furthermore, I really like kangaroos and wallabies, and boomerangs look pretty cool too (even if I can't get one to work). I've always wanted to go to Australia because it seems so far away.

I think that learning about where I'm going before I go there is important because it helps me prepare for what's going to happen. It helps to know whether or not I'll need an umbrella before I go to school so I don't show up soaked. It's common sense. It would be downright stupid if we weren't told anything about where we were going on this trip. I wouldn't know what to pack, so I'd bring a swimsuit and a snowsuit. And once we arrived, I'd have so much extra baggage that I wouldn't even need because I didn't know enough not to pack it. Knowing details about where we're going also helps me to decide how I'm going to act. From just one class, I've learned that I shouldn't act like a tourist, or wear clothes with logos on them, or act like I'm better than everyone I see just because I'm different. Information can really help.