Broaden Your Education

Experience is the ultimate teacher, and travel is the ultimate experience. Travel broadens one like no other experience. The wise, the wealthy, the powerful all travel, not only because they can, but because it was travel that launched them in the first place, and which continues to broaden and improve them. No one in my experience who is well-traveled is ignorant, narrow, prejudiced, or incompetent. It is the travel, adjusting to other cultures, accepting people with other opinions, being in a minority, and having to rely on others, that shifts our viewpoint and enlarges our character. And there is nothing like standing where history took place, or seeing in person the wonders one has only heard of, to show us our place in the universe. It creates gratitude, awe, and respect. We somehow want to preserve, lift, share, both the places and things, and also the people.

The stories of lives changed by travel are numerous. I could relate stories of ways in which travel changes lives: of the wall-flower who now lives in Bali and coordinates business travel for Europeans all over Asia, of the ne’er-do-well who got straight “A’s”, a four-year, full-ride scholarship and now advises presidents, and of many less dramatic, but just as important life changes. Students whose grades go from “D” to “A”, young people who find a career or a vision, teens who quit playing computer games (or dealing drugs) and determine to make something of their lives. And these are not scattered or rare stories. Some of these do and will yet appear in the travel journal section of this website. I have traveled with over 40,000 people, and over 80% have had some experience that actually changed their lives in a significant way. Many were adults, and here the insights are even greater. One who has experience and education is in a position to gain so much more of both in a shorter time. Books have been written, businesses begun, treaties signed, and relationships strengthened as a result of travel.

One who needs a destiny, a mission, or a vision, would do well to get away, for an extended period of time, to contemplate. This is best accomplished in an entirely new setting. The roots of human striving (think Florence) or the wonders of nature (think Iguazu Falls, or Grand Canyon) are ideal. Indeed, all great artists, creators, and inventors take time to get away and let the creativity incubate. There is a 400-year tradition of European nobles sending the next generation’s rulers on an extended trip around Europe. It prepared and educated them. It still does. CEO’s, governors, inventors, and entrepreneurs, by and large, are still travelers.

Let’s look at a couple of facts. The average teen has more expendable cash than anyone—and the advertisers know it. Just watch TV. Most teens fritter it away on cars, clothes and “being cool.” But all we take with us, in the final analysis, is memory and experience. Viewed from 200 years down the road, what will we spend our money on, that has real value? On what will be spend the $1,500,000 that economists say we will earn in a lifetime? A fancy house? Finer food? I want to make a case for spending our cash on experience and memories. Experience and memories add joy in our trials. They prepare us to earn better grades, find better jobs, and move easily among higher-class associates. They prepare us for life, and provide conversation material in later years. They spruce us up when life becomes drab. They make us smarter and more handsome. And they prepare us for things beyond this life. I have taught students in many settings—and I am aware of nothing that so changes lives for the better as living abroad.

Of course, anyone who is not fluent in at least three languages is short-changed in today’s world. He is unable to see or understand certain complexities of economy, culture or politics. He makes poor business decisions, and is surprised by world events, and by the decline in his portfolio. Here, Americans are woefully behind. Research has shown that acquiring a foreign language improves one’s command of his own, and that adults are as capable as children, perhaps more so, of acquiring additional languages. Thus speaking additional languages is a worthwhile goal, even if one does not intend to travel or use it. It makes him more professional, helps him understand the world in which he lives, in short, qualifies him for a higher-paying job.

At ELD we coordinate our travel and our language programs with the world’s largest, and most professional companies. We cannot do everything ourselves, so we team with the best. Our emphasis is personal education - achieving one’s goals. If you don’t see what you are looking for, e-mail us.

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