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Gary Arndt spent 3.5 years travelling through 70 countries. In The Huffington Post, he shares with readers 20 lessons about the world from his trip. When reading them, the American traveller's perspective is clear, but it's still interesting to see what he came up with. Do you agree?
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ShareLessons about the world
- People are generally good
- Media lies
- The world is boring
- People do not hate Americans
- Americans are not as ignorant as you might think
- Americans are not travelling
- The world is not full of bacteria
- You don't need so much stuff
- Travelling does not have to be expensive
- Culture matters
- Cultures are changing
- Everyone is proud of where they come from
- America and Canada share a common culture
- Most people have a deep desire to travel around the world.
- You can find the Internet almost everywhere
- In developing countries, government is usually the problem
- English is becoming universal
- Modernisation is not "westernisation"
- We look at other nations by different criteria than we look at ourselves.
- Everyone should travel
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Johanna S says:
you can tell it's written by an American. :=)
I like number 10, something that we democratic Swedes prefer to deny. And number 8 simplifies life and removes a lot of problems. Interesting list.
27 August 2010 - 10:49
Leena says:
Hello there.
We are currently in Garda, will take the eastern route and stay in Riva del Garda but we will stay a few days here and just enjoy the sun, warmth and swimming before starting a slow journey home, no worries, work will not start until 17 September.
Enjoy:)
27 August 2010 - 11:39
Helly in Sicily says:
Laughed a bit at number 5 - No they are much dumber 😉 Sorry, couldn't help it. Just that lately I've come across a lot of Americans who didn't know much about the world around them, but as I said, not everyone is like that.
27 August 2010 - 13:38
Veiken says:
I agree with quite a lot, but where did he get point 3 from? The world is an amazing place. You just have to discover and want to see it!!! 🙂
27 August 2010 - 20:02
Krister in Beijing says:
I think the quality of the "lessons" was rather uneven, and a bit too much America for the title to be accurate. Maybe the title should be "An American's new lessons about the world".
Really bad 'non-learnings':
3. The world is boring
6. Americans do not travel
7. The world is not full of bacteria
Some much better:
1. people are generally good
18. Modernisation is not 'westernisation'
19. we view other nations by different criteria than we view ourselves
Of which No. 18 is the most important and best of them all.
28 August 2010 - 6:32
Krister in Beijing says:
Many silly 'lessons learnt' and some good ones.
No 18:
Modernisation is not "westernisation"
is the best and something we should learn here in the West.
28 August 2010 - 6:35
Ingela says:
Great list! Fun to read.
28 August 2010 - 10:11
admin says:
Agree with many that it is clear that the list was written by an American. The "lessons learnt" are from an American perspective, and many are based on whatever prejudices he happened to have from the beginning...
I think the wording of point 3 is silly. I think he's actually trying to say that most of the world is not as spectacular and dramatic as it may seem in the media, but a little more mundane. But that would be the same as boring???
Krister, I agree that 1, 18 and 19 are good! 8 is perhaps also something we need to take on board....
29 August 2010 - 15:23
Bella says:
I agree with most of it, except the point where everyone should be proud of their culture. I call bullshit on that one.
30 August 2010 - 21:33