The earth is a huge place! You could spend an entire lifetime trying to explore and only see the tiniest corner. This means that while my thoughts are similar to those I grew up with, just a flight away is a whole brand new world full of people who are entirely different. Traveling is a way for you to break free of the cages that constrain your thinking and explore new ways to see and be in this world.
Living here in Valparaíso, I find myself surprised on a daily basis that something I thought was the way the world worked, turns out to be just that: only a thought. For example, yesterday I was trying to explain to a Chilean why wild street dogs are bad. He explained that here, the dogs are everyone's pets. There was actually protests when the city tried to get rid of street dogs. They are not sad or hungry but rather loved by an entire city. It was hard to argue with him as a fat, tail wagging pup wandered down the street to an old lady who pulled some dog food out of her pocket.
So next time you find yourself assuming something, remember that maybe someone on the other side of the world assumes just the opposite. Or even better, jump on a plane and go ask them yourself what they think!
