Exotic Travel Spots

International Travel

If anthing International Travel has changed the world or rather man's view of the world and its peoples more than anything I can think of. Imagine what would international trade and commerce be like today were it not for the advent of the airline industry and consequently the ability to engage in international travel.

It may be true that the world is getting smaller. Through our vast communications networks, mobile phones and computers we are able to reach most places within minutes.

Yet until we devise a method of teleportation that can take us anywhere at any time, international travel - that wondrous, exhilarating, exhausting and sometimes frustrating experience – is the only method of getting from point A to point B.

Back in the 19th century, the steamship was the way to traverse oceans, and if people could not afford this luxury, they rarely left their cities, townships or villages.

Most people made arduous journeys by horse and cart, camel or dug out canoe, rarely venturing out into the great unknown. International travel was reserved mainly for the highly privileged or highly adventurous.

Yet now, with the advent of the airplane, it is a much different scenario. International travel can take hours instead of months; people can be in Morocco one hour after having a drink in a pub in England; others can be viewing reindeer in Lapland several hours after sunning themselves on a chair in the Mediterranean. International travel has never held so much allure, but also so many problems too.

So what is wrong with hopping on a plane and jetting off to some exotic country? Nothing perhaps, but it is important to carry some caveats with you if you are planning to do some international travel.

For one, investigating the country you are going to – its language(s), cultural norms, food, drink, etc. are important factors to consider it you want to prevent an extreme case of culture shock.

Travelers before the invention of the plane usually had a considerable amount of time to adjust to the changing climate, morphing of languages, and cultural nuances as they passed through borders. Now, with an increasing amount of flights specifically focused on international travel, you can be dropped off in the middle of Kazakhstan or Mongolia with little preparation, knowledge or awareness.

When I was returned back to the U.K. after living for a year in North Africa, I decided that I would take trains, boats, cars and ships to return overland. It was my best experience of international travel, partly due to the fact that I witnessed the subtle shifting of cultures, faces, and historical and artistic influences as I traveled.

Upon arrival in the cold and bleak port of Plymouth, I was so much better prepared to face the English than if I had merely left my palm-fringed apartment in Casablanca and ended up in a chilly walk-up flat in Surrey.

International travel can be exciting, fulfilling, and – for the lucky ones – life-changing. If you decide to get a passport, pack your bags and buy that guidebook, my recommendation is that you prepare for your new destination as much as possible.

If you merely like international travel for the shopping and the swimming pools however, then I’ve no doubt that you will probably need little in the way of warning or preparation.

Clearly international travel means different things to different people. I usually get annoyed with business people who boast of the amount of foreign travel they do, but all they really do is move from hotel to hotel. They usually have very little appreciation for the people, culture and traditions of the countries their business travel takes them to.

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