Globalisation Is Ruining How You Experience the World. Here’s How To Beat it.
Don’t be a Tourist. Get Creative. Be a Traveler.
If you are the type of traveler that goes to McDonalds on your third day in a new place then this post is for you! If you take one thing away from this post please let it be - ‘Don’t be a tourist!’ Be curious and embrace a traveler’s mindset. It will open you up to a whole new world. It will help you develop your Creative Confidence.
I am always surprised when I ask, “How many of you have already been to McDonalds?” on the 3rd day of one of our programs and a sea of proud hands rise from the crowd. As a seasoned traveler and passionate learner, I find this surprising and disheartening. The good news is that we ask this early on in the program so we still have a few weeks ahead to work to change this ratio.
I use this question to spark a conversation — I want to know what our students’ main struggles have been as travelers in Barcelona, as well as what differences they have noticed from their home cities.
While the first question raises a few laughs, the second and third give a lot to think about and discuss. Personally, as a local from Barcelona, I love to hear how first time visitors perceive the city, and what their main friction points are on arrival.
Some struggle with the noise at night, some the Spanish late-night eating schedules. I often get asked why we don’t have AC in homes when it’s so hot? Most are surprised to learn that restaurants are very reluctant to split the bill. Some students are not used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road. Once, surprised by a sudden Barcelona rainstorm, a group from Ireland were shocked when they got soaked — yes guys, we do get rain! Almost 60 days a year, on average.
It’s fun to see how most USA students perceive Barcelona as a very chill and relaxed city, with very respectful drivers. While, all the students we’ve had from Ireland have said how dangerous it is to walk around Barcelona. A matter of perception, I guess.
The potential of Studying Abroad to enhance student employability and career skills is well known. Nearly 75% of IES Alumni secured a job within two months after graduation, and, 96% after 12 months. According to Erasmus, 64% of employers consider international experience to be highly important when identifying new talent for their companies.
It is hard for any study to definitively state that one experience leads to a better job or higher income. However, multiple surveys have shown that the skills gained while studying abroad are the same skills employers value.
source: NAFSA
Benefits to Personal Development have also been widely recorded. 96% of students claim a gain in self-confidence, and 34% report their experience abroad helped them make decisions about their professional future.
Other reported benefits are highlighted below:
- Developing key “soft skills” such as adaptability and communication.
- Improved language learning.
- Studying Abroad fosters intercultural understanding.
And the list goes on…
While the above results have been widely reported and are not to be undermined, I would like to highlight an additional benefit; one that can have a longer lasting effect on participants’ futures, both on a personal and professional level. And, although I haven’t yet found any research to support this claim, I strongly believe that traveling abroad can help students develop their creative confidence. Already a huge bonus, its impact will only continue to grow over time.
At Corkscrew, we are strong believers that everyone is creative — we just need to reconnect with our creative selves to find out how. Towards this end, we share part of Sir Ken Robinson’s diagnostics about how the current Industrial Education System kills student creativity. And, even worse than diminishing overall creativity, it also undermines students’ confidence in their specific creative capabilities, a.k.a their creative confidence. We see it all the time with participants when they first arrive.
As you may know by now, we like asking questions. So, when we ask, “How many of you consider yourselves to be creative?” very few will actually say, “Hell yeah, me!!” Instead, only one or two shy hands may raise in the middle of an awkward silence, like it’s some sort of dirty secret — shameful to admit in public.
After having run over 80 experienceships, in more than five locations, for more than 1,000 students, experience tells us that our programs are a way for participants to reconnect with their creative side, as they begin to regain confidence in their creative capabilities. We further believe that the travel component of our international experienceships is the key to doing so.
In their book Creative Confidence, David and Tom Kelley tell us that in order to cultivate a creative spark, it is important to think like a traveler, with a beginner’s mind.
On a trip, we become our own version of Sherlock Holmes, intensely observing the environment around us. We are continuously trying to figure out a world that is foreign and new.
David and Tom Kelley
The majority of the students that join Corkscrew programs are not designers, like David Kelley or most IDEO folks, and, they might not get the chance to go to Stanford D.School. It might be hard for them to cultivate this type of mindset from the comfort of their home campuses and cities. This is why we ask them to get out of their home country, push them out of the classroom, and force them to explore and question everything. So, they’ll learn to think like a traveler, not a tourist.
For us, the work does not end when participants leave our programs. In fact, the work starts when they get back home, to the safety and comfort of their familiar. Our programs give participants the tools they need to continue to build their creative confidence.
“Rediscovering the familiar is a powerful example of how looking at something closely can affect what you see.”
David and Tom Kelley
So, next time you visit a different city, don’t go to McDonalds. Instead, try snails, or even pig trotters. Walk around with your eyes wide-open. Throw away the stupid selfie stick and ask someone to take a picture of you. And, when you get back, nurture your regained curiosity as the precious treasure that it is.
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