Travel is messy baby!
Recently, Overland Journal ran a cover shot that depicted a somewhat macabre scene, the ancestral remains of Peruvian indigenous peoples arranged into a pile, with several struck into natural poses, like sitting. In the background is the Turtle Expedition truck and then a fantastic mountain. There were more than a few comments about the cover, to which Stephanie (my wife and the designer of the Journal) responded. “Travel is messy baby”.
I believe that cover image describes adventure travel more accurately than any cover I have seen on Overland Journal, or any other adventure periodical. Why? Because it depicts an entirely foreign environment to most people, one that represents quite apparently, a different burial practice, but also a different culture, religion, and ethnic group. And because once you leave your comfort zone, which typically consists of the city you currently live in, every new environment you visit begins to stretch not only what you believed a place or people would be like, but more importantly, it shows what YOU are like. Pull a person out of their little controlled environment and their real fears and/or courage comes to the surface; their real ignorance and/or understanding.
I am not fearless, and am a lifetime away from any real understanding, but travel has been a wonderful teacher, as each new culture, each new challenge begins to shape my understanding of the world, and my belief in what is possible. Most importantly, it has validated that the world portrayed on Fox news or CNN (or take your pick) is NOTHING like the real thing. Most people completely misunderstand Mexico, and their only experience with the country was that trip to Tijuana as a freshman in college. Well, I can assure you that Mexico is nothing like Tijuana, but you will need to come visit the colonial cities, eat the incredible food and stand on top of the tallest pyramid outside of Egypt yourself to decide.
So, travel IS messy, and there is a big world out there filled with people that look different, smell different and talk different than you do. They eat different foods and pray to different gods, and that is an amazing thing…