Well, since I just wrote a post on Argentine culture (a small, small part of it, no doubt), I thought I'd talk a little bit about the American culture, specifically, school, ambition, and travelling, and of course contrast these to a different lifestyle more popular (from what I've seen only) in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
From what I've seen the in US, our lifestyle is pretty formulaic. School, blah blah, high school, college (university), get a job, get married, have a bunch of kids, work for 30-50 years, have a 401K, pension, or both, you pay for your kids to go to college (if you can), those kids have kids, your grandkids, you retire, maybe do some travelling or be an old sod and stay home, maybe buy the second home, then die.
I know there are variations on this. And this isn't a bad way to do it. Typically I would say "fuck that". But that's not fair. It's really not. This way works for a lot of people and is very good. One of whom is my sister, a person I love very dearly.* If you want this, sure. What I want for Americans is they know there are other ways! There is a world bigger than this path. Of course, there is a discussion in the US right now about the cost-benefit of college. It costs x to go, but will it really pay off? Yeah, probably. IF THE THING YOU WANT IS MONEY. The discussion about the value of college is fine.
But whether college is right for everyone is not the point of this post. The point is, the world is even bigger. Sometimes I find it frustrating that in the US we don't travel enough. You went to Southeast Asia for two weeks? Yeah, it's cool. But did you live there? Did you get to know people, the locals, travellers, the culture?? If you didn't, as always, fair enough. I'm sure you had a good time and spent a lot of quid on the trip.
There is an entirely separate way to live: travelling. Of course you need some luck and some means (to get started) but you can travel and work in the places you travel. I met a guy (coming soon on an entirely new set of blog posts called "So Today I Met") who has been travelling on and off for 13 years (he may have said 16, not sure). He has seen SO MUCH of the world. It's incredible.
Sometimes I sit back and think of how big this world is and it breaks my heart and I shed a tear. It's that first peek over a bridge or a cliff and your muscles tighten and you lose your breath. I have to step back and catch my breath. This world is so big and there's so much to see. All I want to do is see it and wrap my arms around every country.
It is unfortunate that in the United States we sometimes view people like this as hippies, gypsies, unambitious, unmotivated, or otherwise out of their freaking mind. I am absolutely guilty of this. In college, I was talking with a guy about where he was going to work after college and he said he was thinking about (and actually did) take a year off and backpack through Europe. What did I think? "Hippie." Even as recently as two years ago I thought this was a hippie thing to do. I wanted to work and make money and move up in the world! But at the end of the day, you can try to move up in the world, and with a bit of luck, you can. And at the end of the day you may not have. You may be remembered as a Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. Or you might not. With travelling, you know what you are getting. It is a guarantee. And it is not an experience you can duplicate in the office.
You can go to university, get a job, have the house, the car(s), the debt (a subject I won't harp on yet), the wife, the kids, money, success, fame. Or you can travel. It's hard to do both, I think, at least, and here's the kicker: at the same time. I will most likely have both, but I want to travel young, before the rest, the wife, the kids, etc. I could die tomorrow. If I have two choices, travel or family, it's travel now. If I have a wife and kids and die tomorrow, I leave them in the lurch. Now, I just lose me. That's a selfish attitude but we all know I'm not ready for kids.
Europeans typically take a "gap year", a year in between high school and university to travel. I think Europeans are already typically more well-rounded due to the number of cultures that exist in Europe and that they interact with. But this, too, makes them more well-rounded. In the US we lack so much cultural awareness. I want more of it in the US. My heart aches for it.
In the US, we might be lazy but we work a lot. We do focus on work. Compared to the culture in Argentina especially (see my post "La Cultura Aqui"). With our friends, at bars and whatnot, we commonly ask "How's work?" Sure it's polite conversation but it's also cultural. We measure our value by what we've done, what we've achieved, our position at work, our cars, and our salaries. What's your mortgage, your mortgage payment? How many rooms does your house have? Are you sending your kid to the best school because you can afford it? This can be unfortunate and detrimental. THE WORLD. IS BIGGER. THAN THIS.**
There is a different way to live, and I want you to know of it before it's too late. In this US, yes, it's unconventional. But it is acceptable. And wonderful. It is different and difficult and you don't have to do it your whole life, or for very long. And I am sure you will not regret it. It will change you, maybe break you, but it won't fail to repair you. It is irreplaceable.
Go out and see the world, America. Not so we can be some cultured society. I don't want to force that on anyone. I want us to see the world because we are missing it. And it is beautiful.
You don't know what you don't know. But once you have one taste, one sliver, one morsel of this world, your eyes will go wide and you won't be able to blink because you won't want to miss a second more.
*What up, sis?
**I am fully aware this is the point of view for those from a background of means. But it is my background and it's what I know.
P.S. - to my employer: should you read this, I love you and have nothing but respect for you. You treat me extraordinarily well. I absolutely, 100% intend on coming back to work on March 17, 2014, as promised. Don't worry. I'll be back.
From what I've seen the in US, our lifestyle is pretty formulaic. School, blah blah, high school, college (university), get a job, get married, have a bunch of kids, work for 30-50 years, have a 401K, pension, or both, you pay for your kids to go to college (if you can), those kids have kids, your grandkids, you retire, maybe do some travelling or be an old sod and stay home, maybe buy the second home, then die.
I know there are variations on this. And this isn't a bad way to do it. Typically I would say "fuck that". But that's not fair. It's really not. This way works for a lot of people and is very good. One of whom is my sister, a person I love very dearly.* If you want this, sure. What I want for Americans is they know there are other ways! There is a world bigger than this path. Of course, there is a discussion in the US right now about the cost-benefit of college. It costs x to go, but will it really pay off? Yeah, probably. IF THE THING YOU WANT IS MONEY. The discussion about the value of college is fine.
But whether college is right for everyone is not the point of this post. The point is, the world is even bigger. Sometimes I find it frustrating that in the US we don't travel enough. You went to Southeast Asia for two weeks? Yeah, it's cool. But did you live there? Did you get to know people, the locals, travellers, the culture?? If you didn't, as always, fair enough. I'm sure you had a good time and spent a lot of quid on the trip.
There is an entirely separate way to live: travelling. Of course you need some luck and some means (to get started) but you can travel and work in the places you travel. I met a guy (coming soon on an entirely new set of blog posts called "So Today I Met") who has been travelling on and off for 13 years (he may have said 16, not sure). He has seen SO MUCH of the world. It's incredible.
Sometimes I sit back and think of how big this world is and it breaks my heart and I shed a tear. It's that first peek over a bridge or a cliff and your muscles tighten and you lose your breath. I have to step back and catch my breath. This world is so big and there's so much to see. All I want to do is see it and wrap my arms around every country.
It is unfortunate that in the United States we sometimes view people like this as hippies, gypsies, unambitious, unmotivated, or otherwise out of their freaking mind. I am absolutely guilty of this. In college, I was talking with a guy about where he was going to work after college and he said he was thinking about (and actually did) take a year off and backpack through Europe. What did I think? "Hippie." Even as recently as two years ago I thought this was a hippie thing to do. I wanted to work and make money and move up in the world! But at the end of the day, you can try to move up in the world, and with a bit of luck, you can. And at the end of the day you may not have. You may be remembered as a Steve Jobs or Barack Obama. Or you might not. With travelling, you know what you are getting. It is a guarantee. And it is not an experience you can duplicate in the office.
You can go to university, get a job, have the house, the car(s), the debt (a subject I won't harp on yet), the wife, the kids, money, success, fame. Or you can travel. It's hard to do both, I think, at least, and here's the kicker: at the same time. I will most likely have both, but I want to travel young, before the rest, the wife, the kids, etc. I could die tomorrow. If I have two choices, travel or family, it's travel now. If I have a wife and kids and die tomorrow, I leave them in the lurch. Now, I just lose me. That's a selfish attitude but we all know I'm not ready for kids.
Europeans typically take a "gap year", a year in between high school and university to travel. I think Europeans are already typically more well-rounded due to the number of cultures that exist in Europe and that they interact with. But this, too, makes them more well-rounded. In the US we lack so much cultural awareness. I want more of it in the US. My heart aches for it.
In the US, we might be lazy but we work a lot. We do focus on work. Compared to the culture in Argentina especially (see my post "La Cultura Aqui"). With our friends, at bars and whatnot, we commonly ask "How's work?" Sure it's polite conversation but it's also cultural. We measure our value by what we've done, what we've achieved, our position at work, our cars, and our salaries. What's your mortgage, your mortgage payment? How many rooms does your house have? Are you sending your kid to the best school because you can afford it? This can be unfortunate and detrimental. THE WORLD. IS BIGGER. THAN THIS.**
There is a different way to live, and I want you to know of it before it's too late. In this US, yes, it's unconventional. But it is acceptable. And wonderful. It is different and difficult and you don't have to do it your whole life, or for very long. And I am sure you will not regret it. It will change you, maybe break you, but it won't fail to repair you. It is irreplaceable.
Go out and see the world, America. Not so we can be some cultured society. I don't want to force that on anyone. I want us to see the world because we are missing it. And it is beautiful.
You don't know what you don't know. But once you have one taste, one sliver, one morsel of this world, your eyes will go wide and you won't be able to blink because you won't want to miss a second more.
*What up, sis?
**I am fully aware this is the point of view for those from a background of means. But it is my background and it's what I know.
P.S. - to my employer: should you read this, I love you and have nothing but respect for you. You treat me extraordinarily well. I absolutely, 100% intend on coming back to work on March 17, 2014, as promised. Don't worry. I'll be back.
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