By Dan Dawson Wanderlust
THE WORLD IS A BOOK AND THOSE WHO don’t travel read only one page. I heard this quote several months ago and it has stuck in my head repeating itself like a mantra. You see, I have wanderlust.
I am one of those people whose passion in life is to travel, to see the world, to visit exotic locations, and experience the cultures and ways of people unfamiliar to me. Travel is a shot of vitamins that wakes my body up and opens my mind. I laugh more, think more, and contemplate more while I am away.
But, living in the U.S. my passion has always been something I often felt I had to apologize for.
Our culture does not condone travel and vacations the ways others do. In fact, it is a well-known and often proudly touted fact that American’s get and take precious time off from their jobs.
The average American worker gets only nine vacation days and six holidays off each year.
And, many experts say that these numbers will decline in the coming years. And, you may be surprised to hear that one in every four Americans doesn’t receive any paid vacation or time off at all.
In fact, a recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy research shows that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn’t guarantee time off for its workers.
When friends of mine moved to London they loved to chastise me with e-mails of how they “popped down to hike in Switzerland for a long weekend,” or spent two weeks traveling the Turkish coast.
And, their e-mails worked, as I got green with envy with every one they sent.
Most western European countries mandate 20 to 30 days of vacation and even the notoriously workaholic Japanese get 10. Latvia, Niger, and Algeria mandate four weeks of paid leave.
All this lost travel is really taking its toll. The American institute of stress reports that “burn-out” costs the U.S. over $300 billion each year in medical expenses, absenteeism, lowered productivity, and other associated costs.
Yet, the costs may be higher. This study does not take into account the loss of personal experiences and the global education that one gets from traveling. How do you quantify seeing the roaring waters of Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian and Argentinean boarders or the mystical wonders of the Blue Masque in Istanbul? Travel is enlightening as much as it is relaxing.
The exposure of other cultures is ever important in helping our children to understand that we live in a global society and that we share the planet with a literal rainbow of people and ways of life. It brings history to life, and nature to the forefront of our minds.
And, although we here in Santa Monica are blessed with living on a spectacularly stunning coastline with mountains in the distance, escaping the hubbub of the city for the mind-altering quiet of some of earth’s natural wonders can do more for the psyche than several weeks of yoga and therapy combined.
If you have ever been in a car accident, held up at gunpoint, or in any other imminently dangerous situation then you probably have experienced the elasticity of time and felt it slow down to a crawl.
You can recount seconds as if they were hours and recall smells, colors, and details in an astounding way. Police reports are full of vivid and colorful accounts of emergency situations. When we put our bodies into an extremely stressful or unusual situation our minds open up and absorb more details than normal. This is the body’s natural reaction to an unusual situation.
This is why time seems to move so slowly for a child. Everything is new and fresh to them and their minds are constantly working to categorize and detail all their experiences.
So, everyday seems like a month, and the time between holidays feels like years. But, as we grow older things become safe and the novelty of life wears off.
Our minds are no longer forced to examine, ponder, and organize experiences.
Time seems to speed up because there is not a lot that’s new. And, of course, that is a good thing to some extent. How exhausting would it be to have to have that level of detail every day? But, it is easy to get too set in our ways and never challenge our minds.
Luckily, we don’t have to be held at gunpoint to fully experience the world around us in richer detail.
Travel is one perfect antidote for a stalled mind. When we put ourselves into new and unusual situations it is like shaking the brain awake. Time slows down; the small things are more easily appreciated and examined. This is why we go to new places and seek out adventure.
To keep our minds fresh we need to travel to a country where we don’t speak the language, get lost in a narrow ancient street in Dubrovnik, or zip line over the jungle in Costa Rica.
This is why I travel and what I hope to bring to this column. In future articles I will explore hikes along the Black Sea coast, find hidden Bed and Breakfast’s an easy drive away, and hopefully inspire you to see new places, find new experiences, and help you get off of page one and into the rest of the book of life.
I look forward to having you join me on my adventures.
DAN DAWSON is a frequent traveler who has written articles for various publications on his adventures abroad. He is also the public information officer for the Big Blue Bus.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 25, 2008. Read the original PDF.