I understand it is not possible for everyone to take on this type of travel because of family relationships, financial situations, and other varying factors which make travel commitments difficult! And with Covid restrictions still in effect, it would be best to wait to take my advice.
So, I hope to reach a younger audience with this video that has not yet entered full adulthood, which is when it becomes more and more difficult to travel for extended periods. Although, if you ARE an adult and don’t have anything or anybody tying you down to a certain lifestyle, this applies to you also!
I want to cover a variety of topics in this video before getting into the real meat of this video.
Why do I believe you should take a residency in a country for at least 1 year? Why just 1 year?
Actually, I would suggest longer but I feel that might be overkill for some people. I feel that a year of being constantly involved in a culture that differs from your own will give you a solid grasp of how social dynamics operate in said society and how you can affectively apply this knowledge to your own ideas of how cultural developments occur. It also gives you the opportunity to learn a new language, which is ALWAYS a great exercise for the brain.
Don’t just travel to a country that is similar to your own. The more drastic in change of culture, the better. Also, some of these countries are extremely affordable to live in! I recently just signed a contract to rent a flat in West Bengal for 4,500 rupees a month, which is $60 US dollars! That means you would pay about 720 dollars for a year’s worth of rent! So if you are serious about taking on this adventure, it is not as financially restrictive as you would imagine! Food is inexpensive. Travel is inexpensive. There’s no reason you couldn’t save 2,000 dollars to live in a foreign country such as India for a year!
I suggest a drastic change in culture because it allows you to dive deep into self-reflection about the origins of your own belief system!
So let’s get started!
Watch the Video
Or skip down below to read the loosely transcribed post.
1. You immediately acquire more humility:
As a citizen of the USA, I can tell you that most people that live in the USA are trapped in a small little geographical bubble of knowledge that only pertains to their surrounding area or the USA in its entirety. Nobody really pays attention to any other outside events, unless it’s a hyped-up news report that concerns the USA. We think we know it all! But we really only understand what the media is willing to tell us! When you travel to a foreign country with a completely different social system (such as I have in India). You arrive and immediately realize how much you really don’t know! Everything is new, exciting and if you allow your mind to witness and accept the differences, it naturally humbles you, and you begin to realize that you really don’t know everything about a certain culture! I don’t mean humble’s you as in you see the poverty and think “Oh look how blessed I am”, I’m speaking about the humility in which you lose your ego of thinking you know all there is to know!
2. You Become More Tolerant of Other’s Views
Different cultures have different social norms, and what is considered acceptable in one country may not be acceptable in another. You must quickly learn to accept these differences and understand why they may have come to be! There were many times that I became frustrated with some aspects of Indian society, such as time being of less importance than it is in America. When someone in India says they will meet you in 30 minutes, it usually means an hour. Standing in lines was difficult at first because people would constantly cut you in line, and my instant reaction would be anger. Slowly but surely, I stopped contributing these things to fundamental attribution errors. I learned to accept that this was the way the system works here. It made me question my own reactions to such events.
3. You can learn to speak another language fluently!
This is extremely important if you want to understand a culture or society in its entirety.
It took me quite a while to learn Hindi, but after 6 months, I felt pretty confident in my abilities to communicate effectively. This gave me a whole new opportunity to discover more about the inner workings of this fascinating culture. Language tends to be a huge divider in being able to understand other points of view. If you can learn the language, you can further understand the society.
4. You will return to your home country with a completely new understanding of lifestyle differences.
When you eventually return home, you will have a new appreciation for your own culture! You will realize that we are all different in our own special ways and that our social norms in the United States are not ALL there is! You will learn so much about how to interact with others and how to be accepting of other’s natural human flaws. You will also have AMAZING stories to tell to others! You will have an amazing life story to pass along to family. Maybe you can make an impact on the lives of others through your own experiences! You will have a new understanding of developmental psychology and how culture impacts your values.
5. You will understand religion and how religion relates to cultural values.
I encourage everyone to study a religion or belief system that differs from their own.
It will open your eyes to the amazing world views that religions have brought us. Knowledge passed down through thousands of years that has developed the nations we see in modern society. When I first came to India, I had no idea about Hinduism. I, myself, being a Christian, had been taught that Hinduism is idol worship and should be avoided at all costs. I now know this to be false and that this was a way for the church to gain power and control. Reading more about Hinduism and studying the scriptures and stories made me realize that we are all seeking God in our own way. So don’t be afraid to study a lifestyle such as Hinduism because of your own dogmatic beliefs. Studying other religions will strengthen your faith in God!
6. It will teach you that despite our differences, we can learn to love each other based on the simple fact that we all desire love, family, and friends.
Humanity is beautiful. We are creatures of rational thought. We have the power to change the world through tolerance. They say you never can truly know someone until you live with them. So I encourage you to take a chance and experience a new culture where you can put yourself in uncomfortable situations and grow from them.
