Traveling to a new country can be scary. It can seem very foreign and unknown at first, and it is easy to get homesick. I should know, as I have traveled all my life. I had been to Hawaii and Mexico by the time I was two, I lived in Sweden when I was nine, I traveled all around Europe, lived in France, and am now living in Costa Rica. When I was younger, I missed my friends and family and always wanted to maintain contact with them when I would travel. I would send letters to people, but calling was an expensive extravagance, only reserved for truly special occasions. Not being able to easily communicate with friends from home really made me feel like I was on the other end of the earth. I felt like I was in a completely foreign land, far from anything I knew.
Virtual Home Sweet Home
My how things have changed!! These days when I travel, I have many new technologies at my disposal.
Sometimes I feel I talk to my family even more when I’m thousands of miles away than when I’m in the same town! If someone would have told me years ago about the prospect of working online while traveling I would’ve laughed in their face!
The effect of these technological advances is that when I travel to new places these days, a part of me still feels at home. I’ve heard the argument from people that technology is driving people further and further apart from each other (rather than meeting in person, they call… rather than calling they email). I feel the opposite is true for me. In a situation like traveling, where I wouldn’t be able to communicate in any other way, I am able to now contact everyone I know whenever I want.
While there is something to be said for completely immersing yourself in a new culture when you travel, I do not feel that technology prevents this. In fact, I feel that being able to work and communicate with friends and loved ones allows me to travel not only more often, but more comfortably as well. I am very pleased that technology has such conveniences. Now I can travel as much as I’d like, while still keeping a part of me at home.
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