How travelling helps you redefining right and wrong

I wrote yesterday that there is no right and wrong when it comes to lifestyle and most decisions in life. While I generally suggest being confident about what you do, I would also recommend not to fix yourself too much on your ideas, limiting the possibility that others could be right as well. Remain open and flexible!

You get your ideas of right and wrong first of all from your parents, then from your immediate surroundings. There are other people’s parents however who actually teach them other things for what is right or wrong. And that is something that you have to stay open for. Other places, other homes, other countries and other cultures – everywhere there are different perceptions of right and wrong and if you are not too fixed on yours, you can find out more about theirs! Maybe you will realize that you could as well adjust yours a bit.

Travelling really helps a lot in this regard. Obviously I am not speaking about a one-week-holiday lying at the beach, staying at an all-inclusive hotel. That won’t bring you anywhere close to another culture, as the organizers of such holidays try to get your culture into their hotels and onto their beaches so that you feel well. No, you would need to stay a bit longer to really see, experience and understand the differences!

These start with small things. In your country you would welcome a stranger with a handshake and maybe a kiss on the cheek. That would be considered as right and correct. In other countries physical contact is not as frequent and usual. You could even insult the other one by this closeness. At the table, while eating, you would call it wrong to eat with your fingers, lick them or burp. In other countries the cook would appreciate these signs of you having enjoyed the food and filled your stomach.

It is not only about table manners and welcoming gestures though! Once you get to reach deeper and really get to know another person, another attitude and another view on things in life, it helps you to open your mind. Your own life will be put into relation by the events of another person’s and your attitude, your views and your thoughts may change when experiencing those of others.

Even if you don’t have the money to go far away, to travel to places like India, you still can widen your horizon through journeys! Do light travel, by train or bus, go out to another city, a bit further than you usually go – other cultures are not as far away as you think!