What Have I Learned in My Travels Across America?

As I have grown older, traveling has slowly become one of my favorite pastimes. (Fun fact: The first trip I ever paid for was to attend the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture..which probably speaks volumes to the type of activities I enjoy) Traveling has helped me come to the realization that I am an explorer, hence the inspiration for my tag @alwayswayfaring. Anywho, due to my frequent excursions, I often get asked some variation of, “Where am I going next?”, “What is my favorite place I have visited?”, and “Can you plan my trip?” My responses to these honestly vary by my mood at the moment(except the latter, I am not planning your trip). However, a question I am seldomly asked is “What have I learned in my travels?” The answer to this is much more difficult but I believe the answer will be telling as to why traveling has become one of my favorite pastimes. Also, I do not think I have a well-thought answer so here begins my attempt at creating one for future reference.

Takeaway 1: Every region of America is different

I get a little irritated when people eschew domestic travel on the premise that there’s nothing to see in America. Every region of America is different and two states in the same region can have entirely different cultures and scenery. Do your due diligence and you will see how much diversity lies within America. You do not have to go where everyone else is going, take the road less traveled sometimes :). 

Takeaway 2: There are great people everywhere

I have met exceptional people everywhere I have gone even in places I least expected. From my perspective, there’s more good than bad in the world. 

Takeaway 3: Life is full of surprises

I generally like to have a rough plan in place whenever I am traveling and on certain trips to have very detailed itineraries but as you can expect things sometimes do not go as planned. Some of my best experiences while traveling have been spur-of-the-moment occurrences that happened after a plan did not come to fruition. You learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Takeaway 4: Blacks do not travel outdoors enough

Granted, at many popular outdoor tourist attractions I would see at least a handful of Blacks, there was a notable exception, national parks. I originally attributed this to many national parks being outside the South, where most Blacks reside. However, after talking with other Black outdoors enthusiasts we have all noticed the glaring disparities in representation in the outdoors. For example on my last trip out West, we visited 5 national parks(North Cascades, Redwoods, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton). We saw a grand total of 5 Blacks throughout our excursions, and we covered well over 50 hiking miles on top of significant road miles. It was particularly disappointing because of how beautiful these places are but more importantly because these parks(besides North Cascades) are some of the most popular parks so we naturally assumed that we would see more people who looked like us. However, upon reflecting, I normally do not see my friends taking vacation time to go to national parks in place of cities nor did I take outdoor vacations growing up. I think we can change this culture however over time as spending time outdoors provides a variety of long-term benefits.

Takeaway 5: Your perception of the world is not reality

This is something I have learned the more I have explored different places. I had a lot of preconceived notions about what other regions of America and their inhabitants were like and while some may have been true, some were not. For example, before the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines, I assumed everyone had mask mandates or at least had a basic adherence to wearing masks during this time. This changed when I went to North Dakota in September 2020 and saw the reality that there was neither a mask mandate nor a consensus adherence to basic mask-wearing. Reflecting upon my visit, I wondered how much ideology mixed with being a sparsely populated state contributed to these decisions but nonetheless, I had to reconsider the basic assumptions I made. In the future, I am excited to visit more communities that can alter my perception.

Ultimately, traveling has been one of the biggest molders of my life since I graduated high school. I would not be where I am now without my explorations. Similarly, my travels are why I have any indication of what direction I want to go(Now whether that direction is appropriate? We will find out together.).

I thank everyone who has accompanied me on my travels, prayed for me on my travels, and those I have met on my travels, you have all made me a better person.  

Enjoy some pictures :)