Benefits to Travelling at a Young Age | Lillian Jackson

Lillian Jackson, guest · [00:12]When I was ten years old, my parents sold our house, gave away our belongings, and packed the rest of our lives into a storage unit. They strapped me and my brother into a VW camper van and started driving south. We're Canadian, and driving south is really all we could do unless we wanted to freeze to death. I had a small box of clothes and toiletries and a small box of school materials. My bed, our kitchen, our dining room, and our living room were now all contained on top of four wheels. My mom became my teacher in all subjects except music, where the history of music and music appreciation was left to my dad and his eclectic iPod. It was full of all the greats, and even the odd times something would play that didn't make my mom roll her eyes. We began our journey in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, with the intention of driving around the world. Three and a half years later, I was still living out of a small box of clothes, having traversed over fifty different countries.

Lillian Jackson, guest · [01:44]Actually visiting places of historical interest and traversing continents increases interest and a better understanding of locations and events. School becomes active learning when you can picture yourself on location. In my case, I traveled through Europe doing special projects on classical music and the world wars, tailoring explorations to our studies. We attended a classical music concert in Austria at the Vienna Operhaus and walked through a World War II bunker that now houses a Hitler Museum. I was able to hear the music played in the original setting when it debuted and feel the claustrophobic nature of an air raid bunker. So now when I read about the Blitzkrieg or hear the Blue Danube by Strauss, I'm able to connect the stories and music to the locations and the things I learned into the place and time of these events. Those examples are obvious, but with subjects such as math and science, it's more subtle, but there is still an everyday application of these subjects. On the road, calculating time and distance was a daily occurrence, and making quick exchange rate calculations had to be second nature, or we risked botching a market negotiation or changing currency at an unfavorable rate. But for me, personally, I found the downtime to be equally beneficial, as it allowed me to devour a couple great books. There's no better way to lose yourself in a book than relating the story to the places you've been. I can't say for sure if traveling really did increase my academic performance. Perhaps it did. But I can say that I do find a number of topics pique my interest simply because I have had firsthand experience.

Lillian Jackson, guest · [03:17]When you travel, it has been shown that you become more self-aware. You discover things about yourself, your values, and priorities that help define your goals, create good habits, and improve your individuality. From a book written in 1988 titled "Abroad and Beyond: Patterns in American Overseas Education" by Crawford D. Goodwin and Michael Nocht, found that students become more mature, sophisticated, hungry for knowledge, culturally aware, and sensitive. They learn by questioning their prejudices and all national stereotypes. When we traveled through Vietnam, we visited the War Remnants Museum in the Ho Chi Minh City, where the Vietnam War is portrayed as an act of aggression by the French and Americans with accusations of war crimes. It is an alternate view of the war one hears about, in North America especially. We became more culturally aware and sensitive when presented with graphic images of a country's tragic past. This was the case in other countries as well, such as Cambodia and Poland, where museums and locations hit home the tragedies suffered by humans in recent history. Not all learning was exciting, fun, and joyful, many times I left certain places in tears. But exploring such events has helped me become a more mature and sensitive person. I believe that leaders of tomorrow need a high level of empathy for everyone on this planet, and through travel and exposure to tragic and unfathomable human histories, this empathy and understanding can be cultivated. I like to think that my generation will know better and therefore do better, and this will have a little bit to do with the traveling youngsters.

Lillian Jackson, guest · [04:48]Traveling enhances your tolerance for uncertainty. It also boosts your confidence. When traveling by van overland, this is definitely true. Although technology today makes traveling so much easier than in the past, it is still not smooth sailing. Often we were in places without cell signal, and the state of roads made calculating our time to the next destination almost impossible. I've slept in the van while parked in a Guatemalan petrol station, camped at questionable places in El Salvador, Botswana, and Nicaragua, and been stranded on highways with our home broken down on the side of the road. Even little things like getting laundry done sometimes proved difficult. I have learned that I can pull off the wearing of dirty clothes and that rewearing clothes that are just a little bit dirty isn't the end of the world. Some days I didn't know where I was going to be sleeping that night. But a little resourcefulness, some confidence, and often with the help of strangers, we managed, and it wasn't all that scary. I am confident with public transport as well, having backpacked through Asia and used various metro systems in Europe. Boarding a sleeper bus from Varanasi to Delhi in India takes a lot of courage for a small-town Canadian girl, and I know I can do it. I know because I've done it. While we were driving up the west coast of southern Africa, our van broke down in an odd way. Every time the van slowed down, it would stall and not be able to start up again. We would have to wait for an hour every time this happened in order to continue on. It broke down as if it were the bus in the movie Speed, so we had to drive along roads of Namibia going no slower than 60 kilometers an hour. My dad took a roundabout on two wheels and traffic lights were our nemesis. Unfortunately, there were police checks and lights on our way to our destination, and the part we needed to fix this issue. Too bad we didn't have Keanu Reeves to save the day.

Lillian Jackson, guest · [08:14]But traveling did more than just inspire me. It gave me a sense of self and a deeper understanding of who I am. From my perspective, all the things that science has said is true, but for me, putting a bullet list together of all the benefits I gained from traveling at a young age is more complicated than what science has to offer. What I've taken away from all those years on the road is, simply put, traveling has made me a better person, more understanding, more empathetic, and most of all, it brought me closer to my family. And if my dad's extensive music playlist has taught me anything, or should I say, if Harry Chapin's Cats in the Cradle has taught me anything, getting quality family time can prove to be invaluable. Traveling around with my family from ages 10 to 13 did give me a passion for learning, and I hope I am more self-aware and culturally sensitive. I like to think that I am tolerant with uncertainty and have the courage to explore new situations, and maybe I am creative in certain ways. I do know that barbecue crickets with avocado is delicious. The highwaymen are known as the country supergroup, whatever that is. That you shouldn't walk the banks of the Ganges River first thing in the morning if you are uncomfortable with full frontal male nudity. Always check your visa's expiry date, and never leave food unattended around baboons. Also, your passport is your most valuable possession.