Save the World… Travel

A number of years ago I was driving from my home town of London, Ontario to Satellite Beach, Florida. I stopped at some random gas station in West Virginia to buy a drink and some gas. I started a conversation with the middle-aged attendant. The name on his shirt was Alowishus. He was quick to observe that I wasn’t a local. In a long southern drawl, he asked me, “Where’re you from?” I told him I was from Canada. He didn’t know where that was. I explained Canada was the country just north of Detroit. He said he kind of knew where Detroit was, but he didn’t know there was a country north of Detroit. Then, all of a sudden he lit-up and asked, “Hey, isn’t that where they live in igloos?” I thought he had to be kidding. It turned out Alowishus was dead serious.

It’s easy to be critical of such a character. How could anyone be geographically and culturally ignorant of an entire country that borders their own? It would be so simple to turn this piece into a segment from The Tonight Show’s Jaywalking.

But, that would be missing the point, and hypocritical.

When I was last in Thailand, I expressed surprise that Thailand had a monarchy from the back seat of a taxi. The taxi driver huffed at me through is rear view mirror as if to say, “How could you not know?”

How could I not know?

I work in the world of information. I have a laptop and access to Wikipedia. Really, how could I be smug about Alowishus thinking 30 million Canadian’s carve their homes out of ice?

When I told a friend and wise mentor of mine about my conundrum, he was quick to point out there are things I know (e.g. I know how to drive a car), things I know I don’t know (e.g. I know I don’t know how to speak Russian), and things I don’t know I don’t know (i.e. everything else I am completely unaware of). The point being: You can’t beat yourself up for not knowing what you simply don’t know.

The truth is we can’t be conscious of everything. But, when you travel you have a chance to open your eyes to new ideas and new ways of seeing things. Attitudes change from one of incredulity and intolerance, of difference perspectives and attitudes, to one of deep interest and acceptance.

The next time I bump into Alowishus or someone like him, I'll invite him or her to check Canada out first hand and see we have cities, cars, grocery stores instead of the white expanse he might have imagined. Hopefully, they'll catch the travel bug to see how the rest of the world lives. Hopefully they'll tell their stories and inspire others to travel, learn and appreciate the beautiful world we live in.

Happy Travelling,
Stephen