This past November, my husband and I took our honeymoon to Thailand.
It was the first time we had ever been that far away from our home in the States (roughly a 16-hour flight). Nerve-racking for sure, but it was the most memorable trip we had ever taken. I don’t mean to sound cliché. This isn’t supposed to be some Live.Laugh.Love post. I want to be as earnest as possible because I was given a lot of food for thought during the whole trip.
This sentiment should be obvious, but I often see a lot of traveling influencers completely gloss over this fact. During my trip to Thailand, I walked through grand and beautiful temples of worship, learned about a rich culture with 1000s of years of historical context, and shared space with a proud community of people living their lives as they have always done. During my brief stay in Chiang Mai, I was talking with the tour guide, who was a fountain of knowledge, and she mentioned to me that traveling to the US is expensive for many Thai people. I joked back that the US is expensive for many Americans, too. This was a catalyst for introspection for me, though. Because I do aspire to travel more in the near future, I want to encourage others to expand their horizons as well. But what if you can’t? Of course, there are ways to travel affordably, but in this economy, what does that even mean? And let’s not pretend money is the only currency in this life. Time is the most obvious factor at play when it comes to travel, and many people don’t have much of it to spare. Maybe it is because we don’t have much time to spare, we should make the most out of what little we have. But you don’t need to travel to do that. Traveling can be fun, educational, insightful, extravagant, humbling, inspiring, etc. It will always be a privilege. If you get that chance, you should take it.
I would like to preface this topic by stating that rudeness and ignorance are not synonymous with each other. I find that being rude can be a characteristic of ignorance, but being rude is always a choice. What do I mean? You can be ignorant without the intention of being rude. The world is big and cultural norms are vast; it’s totally understandable if you don’t know what’s appropriate to do in cultural situations different from your own or are unfamiliar with cultural customs. However, being rude is choosing to stay ignorant of those cultural customs or purposefully undermining them. During our trip to Thailand, my husband and I witnessed people being rude to each other on several occasions. In one instance, a man shoulder checks a young woman while exiting a plane. She wasn’t even in the way; she was just trying to reach her bag. But instead of following standard exiting procedures ( you know the aisle closest to the door exists first), the man and his friends proceed to undermine everyone ahead of them, resulting in the women getting shoulder checked. In another instance, a man was complaining about how tired he was of Thai food after being served Thai food in an establishment. He was pretty vocal, if not obnoxious, about it ( I did mention we went to Thailand, right?). The audacity of Thai people serving Thai food in Thailand. Listen, nobody said you couldn’t dislike things. You don’t need to make it your personality. There were other instances, too, but they all seemed to come from a sense of entitlement. Entitled to what? Who knows, but the outcome was always the same. I always felt annoyed after. My thought process always leaned towards “act like you got some damn sense”.
I grew up in a household where the phrase “act like you got some damn sense” was code for don’t embarrass me. My parents would mention this to me if we were going out in public. Whether that be visiting a family friend’s house or shopping, you’d better act like you have some sense. This wasn’t a threat; it was a principle. How you act in public is a reflection of you, your family, your values, and your morals. So, in a way, I was feeling embarrassed by the other tourists because how they acted would be reflected on me and tourists like me who really appreciated the Thai culture and the people in it.
This is where I make a plea that when you travel, especially to other countries, please be mindful of how you conduct yourself. Do your best to be respectful and considerate of customs, traditions, and mannerisms different from yours. Act like you’ve got some damn sense.
My admiration for travel came from my folks. Both my mother and father served in the military and had the opportunity to travel. They always told me that America is the greatest country in the world, but traveling can open your eyes to many things. I was always taught to be open-minded. The notion that America is the greatest country in the world isn’t just patriotism. It’s almost like a dogma here. It’s in our schools, our TV shows, our politics. I find this notion to be incredibly big-headed. The world is too big to be so short-sighted. Many of us can recognize that, and many of us don’t. There is nothing wrong with having patriotism in your heart. We are a society after all. However, I believe true patriotism is to recognize that there is no such thing as the greatest country in the world. Every society has flaws, and we are all just trying to exist within them. I can only speak from an American point of view, but we have so much to learn from each other. Thailand only solidified that sentiment for me even more. We are so different, yet so similar.
I’m not stupid. Wanting 7 billion people to just be open-minded and learn from each other is honestly just wish fulfillment. But it still holds weight. All I can do is just share my thoughts and hope that people engage with it.
4. Bidets…Thats it
There is a monopoly on toilet paper in the United States, and it is preventing us from evolving our hygiene practices. How could we not know that water offers a more sufficient level of cleanliness after using the bathroom than a thin wad of paper that may or may not break apart (depending on quality). I will not explain, because it is an experience to be had. If we ever learn anything from each other, it should be that bidets are just better for hygiene practices and could ease the strain on our waste infrastructure.
It’s been 3ish months since our trip to Thailand, and I want to go back. There were many places I didn’t get to visit and wanted to spend more time in. My time in Thailand has only firmly set in my mind that I want to travel more. I’ve been inspired, and I hope to manifest more amazing trips in the future.
