Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Traveling developing nations for invaluable perspectives

If you live in a developed nation and earn a currency such as US dollar, Euro or anything of such great value than it is silly not to travel to developing nations where you become immediately rich. As I write this I am in Nicaragua where minimum wage is about 4$ US a day and earning over 10$ US is a decent living wage. Every hour I work in Canada earns me days of living down here where I sleep in clean, safe and outrageously chill hostels. I eat fantastic fresh food. Beer costs 2$ for a L, an enormous papaya or 2 dozen bananas cost 1$, while tousism services ranging from surf lessons, guided volcano hikes, spanish classes or masage cost about 15$ a day or for the relevant time period.

I love coming down here and when I do I am not here as a lazy traveler but I am studying spanish learning about forests and agricultural and generally having challenging and rewarding experiences in a variety of forms. This is a good and interesting life, give it a shot. You will learn something and it might offer a valuable perspective of the goodness and faults of your own culture back home.

A valued perspective I have gained from my own travels in developing nations is a critical awareness that people in developed North America spend too much time working and pursuing what our society considers to be success. In my opinion success is not working 60, 70 or 80 hours a week until you are ready to retire. Success is not material wealth at the expense of health and social-ecological harmony. It is not fancy trinkets and expesnive cars. Too many people fall victim to the giant lie created my marketing and the fantasy of being rich and famous. Step into the real world where a glass of clean water is valued over a shiny diamond.

For myself success is characterized by having a keen awareness and appreciation for time. It is growing old slowly rather than years rushing by. Wealth -or well-being- is marked by richness of experience as well as non-monetary capital like environmental, social abundance and freedom of choice. I will always prefer to sleep in my tent on the summit of mountain than in a five star hotel. I would rather be in a hostel surrounded by real traveflers than in a fake resort. We need money but not as much we might think, to find contentment.

Traveling down here is a good way to learn that but dont come down on a short trip. Dont waste the airplane fuel and contribute the carbon emissions for a short excursion. Mind your footprint and calculate your carbon footprint from travel; its easy on the web. Come for a while and travel respectfully and concientously. Do not travel to say you "did it." To really experience a place its best to stay for a while. I know it is hard to find the time but remember that you make decisions in your life that guide your future. Their are possibilities layered upon possibilities and I am not the only person who has arranged my life so I have the freedom and opportunity to take extensively long trips. I have met couples, families, the young and the old doing the same thing as I.

With only one life to live I am determined to make the most of it. For the means two pursuing fulfilling and enjoyable experiences as well as living sustainably and leaving a positive legacy on the Earth. Somehow those two objectives combine very well in bicycle travel.