Travel: The Antidote to Overcome Biases and Stereotypes
Written by Srishti Sangar and Dhriti Mehta
We all want to explore the world and venture places unknown to us, to seek new experiences and insights into different cultures. This can only be achieved with the magic of travelling. All the stereotypes and memories of prior conflicts and tensions fade when one chooses to travel and enjoy the experiences of visiting that place.
Consider yourself visiting a city which is inhabited by people whose cultural traditions and practices you are unaware of and perhaps even misunderstand. But by introducing yourself to the rich culture and practices through the experience of travelling to that destination, you realise that you were completely wrong on judging who they were and what they stand for. You find yourself getting immersed in the culture and more sensitive to their practices. You also learn to appreciate the way they live their lifestyle, and perhaps even feel encouraged enough to adapt a few changes to your own home. It goes without saying that travelling is, in fact, a life-altering thing to do.
The Cambridge dictionary defines stereotype as “a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong.” These stereotypes and biases are perpetuated easily and often remain unconsciously with the individual throughout his or her life. It can occur either by social factors or psychological factors and various biases are handed over from elders in the family to the younger generation. One cannot deny that stereotypes and biases exist in all our minds and are quite difficult to shake when they are fully formed.
So, this is where travelling comes into the picture: the antidote to every problem, be it stress or finding oneself; but most importantly eradicating biases which have made its place in our hearts and minds.
The truth is that travelling is a weapon which can successfully eliminate negativity from one’s mind. Just imagine what all you will miss if you let some unnecessary thought or ill-conceived bias about a group of people you don’t know enough to make sweeping judgements about, overshadows your rational thinking process and let irrationality govern your decision making. Nature is a gift that keeps giving and by gifting yourself the opportunity to experience beautiful sights and venture into the unknown, you also allow yourself to broaden your horizons and experience first-hand something deeper than surface-level knowledge that you gain only by looking at photos of destinations on the internet.
It is imperative to remember that nothing can stop you from attempting to better yourself and from accessing new knowledge to overcome these preconceived notions that hinder your personal growth. With a wide variety of vouchers and tourism packages to offer, companies like ours make sure that the individual blends in with the places they visit and get to experience the destination in a way one cannot imagine. In other words, you get to feel how it is to be a part of the same places and understand the histories and legacies that have shaped the culture of the country or society. As a keen observer and first-hand participant who witnesses the magnificence of what the destination has to offer, any feeling of any form of racism is tossed out the window and you hope to visit the place again one more time to relive the unthinkable beauty of the place and experience the warm hospitality of its people.
We live in a world where countries and cities are heavily reliant on each other — be it global commerce and trade or tourism that drives millions across the planet. Letting some sort of differences between or among cities and countries will speed up the process of any form of downfall for us all. Younger generations already feel more connected with each other through a shared interest in K-Pop music from Korea or Japanese anime. They feel like a part of something bigger than just themselves or their communities by bonding over accessing international education opportunities in the United States or the experience of backpacking through Europe. The cultural connections that have formed online have already slowly begun to showcase themselves in their experiences of travelling and seeking adventures.
But much leaves to be desired in many of our minds where we carry unjustified stereotypes about people from generation to generation. After all, we are all humans made of skin and bone.
It is with this intention that travelling can be a common platform that is the best ice breaker to solve our problems and erase our biases. We are mature beings with more to offer than to take. Hence with the help of Travelling, why not set right what has been done wrong and explore a whole new world?!
Now, doesn’t that sound exciting?
The world is your oyster, and to you, it is inviting!
