Why You Should Leave Your Country (Especially If You're American)

The less you want to, the more you need to.

I have travelled to over 45 countries, had in-person conversations with over 500,000 people, and interacted with millions online. The nature of my work and lifestyle means that I’m often on the move, switching locations, and interacting with a variety of people, offline and online. My worldview and opinions are informed by these experiences. As a result, I tend to compare things from a broader international perspective rather than a local one.

Most people don’t travel much for several reasons. Some don’t have the financial means, whilst others lack the time or flexibility due to other priorities and commitments. Some people simply lack the desire to venture beyond what they’re already familiar with.

There are many reasons why a person may not travel, especially internationally. The purpose of this essay is not to admonish, but to challenge, explain, and encourage. My travel experiences have made me a wiser, more competent, and more gracious individual. And I wish for others to experience the same.

The Mark Twain quote below aptly summarises some of the benefits of travel:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

In the internet age, it’s easier to learn about other countries and interact with their inhabitants than ever before. You don’t even need to leave your house to do it. However, there is no true substitute for experiencing a place in person. It is akin to the difference between walking on a treadmill whilst looking at a photo of a beautiful landscape, and actually going for a hike in that same location. In fact, the difference is even more significant because of the human elements that come with travelling and experiencing different cultures, environments, and people.

Travel provides perspective, gratitude, and understanding. If you have never left your home city or country, it is guaranteed that your perspective is more limited than it would be otherwise. How could it not be? If you haven’t personally experienced any other places or ways of life, then you can’t have a solid, first-hand frame of reference. What you are left with is assumptions, ideas, and second-hand knowledge. This can have some value, of course, but the picture will always be incomplete. There are things you learn from travelling that you cannot simply read in a book or comprehend by watching a video.

In my observation, those who most confidently boast about their city or nation being ‘the best’ are usually those who have never left it. While patriotism is typically a virtue, there is a form of blind patriotism that’s rooted in ignorance and naivety.

Many Westerners have heavy biases without realising it. They are keenly aware that propaganda exists in foreign nations, yet they believe their home country is excluded. These biases can manifest as prideful, condescending attitudes towards other countries and their people, rooted in a sense of superiority. On the other end, there are people who do not acknowledge or feel any sense of gratitude for the positive qualities of their home nation. They take these advantages for granted, even if they are not global norms.

Biases, stereotypes, and misconceptions can all be diminished through travel. The people who are most resistant to this message are the ones whom it would benefit the most. This is not only true in the West, but worldwide.

Travel helps you to understand how similar other people around the world are to you, as well as how and why they are different. You learn to better appreciate the things that are universal, as well as key cultural differences. In this way, travel fosters humility, whilst raising awareness and understanding.

Even in our more ‘enlightened’ era, it’s not uncommon to hear people discuss those of other nationalities, ethnicities, or religions as if they were a different species. It’s common to view millions or billions of people with a low-resolution lens – using assumptions, prejudice, and stereotypes to fill in the knowledge gaps. It’s also intellectually lazy. Travel helps to sharpen this focus, making one more likely to see people as individuals, rather than simply as members of a particular group.

We oversimplify the world and the people in it because it makes life easier and faster to navigate. But this also creates many problems – ranging in severity from slightly annoying to outright genocidal.

I have personally interacted with too many people from a range of different backgrounds to ascribe low-resolution heuristics to entire ethnicities, religions, classes, or nationalities. Humans are too complex for that. There are wonderful people, terrible people, and everything in between in every demographic. Fortunately, most people are decent or at least trying to be. If this were not the case, no society would be able to function at all, due to crippling levels of predatory and criminal behaviour.

But beyond self-development, travelling is also fun. The world is a massive place and there is so much interesting stuff to see and experience. You don’t need to visit every country, but if you have never left your homeland, spending even one week abroad will teach you something new.

Learning a foreign language is also worthwhile. It is difficult to achieve full fluency as a non-native speaker, but even learning the basics is valuable. When it comes to languages, knowing some is so much better than knowing none at all. You won’t fully appreciate this until you do it, but being able to communicate with millions of people in a way you previously couldn’t opens up a whole realm of new opportunities. A lot of goodwill can be garnered by speaking to someone in their mother tongue.

Thanks to technology, long-distance travel is much cheaper, faster, and safer than it was for our ancestors. Seeing more of the world doesn’t need to be expensive or arduous. You can even start by seeing more of your own country if you haven’t explored it yet.

If you seek to become a better-rounded individual with a greater understanding of the world and humanity, then travel will serve you well. It expands your mind in ways that are difficult to describe in words.

You must experience it for yourself, and I encourage you to do so.

God bless.

1,
Zuby