On buses, in lines, in stores and even walking out in public, people tend to stand closer together and appear to be much pushier than what I was used to. At first, I thought everyone who stood too close, or cut in front of me in line, or bumped into me on the bus were being rude. Eventually, it dawned on me that I was looking at personal space from my perspective, but not from the perspective of the culture that I was now immersed in. Ultimately, I began to understand that these events were not personal—just another cultural difference.
These are just two minor examples of things that I had to look at from a different perspective to better understand. But there are many differences that appear when we travel that can make the way we see the world richer—from big things like different religions, political views and philosophies about life, to the small things, like not being so stressed about time, or slowing down to enjoy a meal or cup of coffee.
