The Dream Refreshed
posted by Jill @ 10:17 AM
Blogging the Dream. Blogging the Dream. Blogging the Dream.
What is the dream? What is this dream that I should be blogging?
For most of us who made it to the CoolWorks website the dream is about adventure. About taking a chance and letting ourselves be challenged in a new environment, with new responsibilities and new people. About not being afraid to change our own worlds for new ones, where the opportunities to learn are abundant. It’s about taking control of our own destinies and changing the course of our lives. About saying, “yes, I can, I will, I’ll try, and why not”.
Many of us fulfill this dream traveling. As a student of tourism I studied and learned about all the benefits and drawbacks of the tourism industry. Tourism can take on many forms and faces. Experiences can range from a simple escape in the sun all the way to an engaging and educational cultural experience depending on what the traveler is looking for.
In addition to studying tourism I’ve had the opportunity to be a tourist many times and my travels always take on some aspects of education, of relaxation, and of adventure. As a tourist I am also often rewarded with a sense of self-empowerment that comes from taking control of my path and deciding where I want to go today and tomorrow.
There are, however, limitations to traveling as a tourist. One of the biggest limitations is economic. We can’t maintain a tourist attitude forever, unless we have unlimited resources to sustain that lifestyle without working. So eventually many of us have to submit and return to the familiarity of our daily lives, often times saddened that our experience had to end, back to work and back to normal.
Where is this leading? Well, back to the dream of course: adventure, new challenges, taking control. How can we make it so that the vacation feelings, the adventures and the new experiences don’t end?
By living abroad or living in a different State, Province, City or Town. Here is where we can extend our adventure into a genuine learning experience. Genuine is the key word here. As tourists we often see only a part of the reality of a destination. We get a quick look at the way other people live, a glimpse of life in a different environment, a peek at the social or political reality of a new place; maybe we learn a few new words in a different language. Many of us are motivated by these new findings but we only wade knee-deep into our explorations. To dive head first into these experiences we need to LIVE the new life, create a life in the new setting.
Now, I’m sure many of you are thinking that this is no longer tourism if you must work. You think, if I’m working it is not relaxing, and it is not a vacation. True. Living and working in new place is not tourism and it is also not a way to replace tourism and travel. Yet, imagine now that you find a job in a different country or even in the next town. It is as if you are bringing your tourism destination to you. You are instantly immersed in three great activities that provide some of the same stimulations as tourism and travel: meeting new people, taking on new challenges and opening your eyes to a new and changed environment.
When you meet a new person you are given the chance to see a different perspective on life. Sometimes when we are traveling we meet someone who is very interesting and we are able to quickly open up and share ourselves with the other person. This is ideal, but not usually the reality of the situation. The majority of people do not open up the first time you meet them. Trust must be established and then sharing can begin. That sharing is an amazing educational tool. It is like a window into another world, a new perspective. In order to access this tool we need time to establish relationships. This, of course, doesn’t happen during a weeklong holiday, but in a month or three months or a year people begin to share their outlooks and knowledge. You can begin to take note of attitudes, personalities and even the social contexts of the lives around you directly from the people who live there. This knowledge you absorb may be drastic and intriguing or subtle and guarded. Where people are more guarded the trust needed to open up sharing is even more important. This is especially true in many foreign societies where people aren’t as open as in the Occidental parts of the World. Sometimes customs create situations where we feel uncomfortable with new people. For example, when I was in China many foreigners told me they felt strange when a group of Chinese people would watch quietly as the foreigner shopped or merely walked by. This seems strange to you and me, but after living in China for a time I learned that for a Chinese person quiet observation is an excellent way to curb curiosity. Instead of hiding curiosity, they explore it. Many of customs and social mannerisms can be explained once you establish relationships in the community. Over time we, as outsiders, learn to accept and even respect these new customs, and that acceptance only grows with time and understanding.
When living away from home we are sure to encounter more trials since we are unfamiliar with the new place and its workings. Some challenges can be enormous and others minimal, but when you meet the challenge, big or small, and face it successfully you are sure to be filled with a sense of accomplishment. Imagine your first day learning the Metro lines or bus routes in a new city. When you arrive at your destination you are rewarded with a burst of confidence knowing that you can and you did. This may seem simple, but daily successes like this can fill you with a sense of accomplishment. Now imagine you are in a country where you cannot read, write or speak the language. After one week you can say where you live, hello, how are you, goodbye, yes and no. After two weeks you can tell someone what you do, ask how much something costs, say excuse me, and maybe even count to five. This learning is so fulfilling. The focus on the advances rather than the difficulties allows you to see each new achievement as a big step forward in understanding your new surroundings. In my experience, the longer you stay, the more you realize there is to learn, especially when traveling outside of your native country.
Once you begin to understand some of the ways to move or communicate or enjoy your new surroundings your eyes begin to open up to all the possibilities around you. Your new environment begins to make sense. You want to explore a little farther each time you go out. You begin to take advantage of the possibilities that exist in your surroundings. If you are an outdoor lover you will begin to investigate new hiking routes or tourism attractions near your new home. If you are a City lover then you will find new museums, theatres, shows and parks to explore. If you love culture you will notice the way people are living around you, their mannerisms, teachings and social protocol. You are surrounded by new experiences at work, after work or on the weekends when you have free time. You are constantly growing and learning and this advancement leaves you fulfilled and satisfied.
Many people have commented that it must be difficult to live and work in different places. I know that this is true for some people. This type of life is for those who have a longing to discover and explore. These are the people who will thrive and blossom in changing environments.
Every now and then it is important to clarify what you are doing and why you are doing it. This blog is a step back to look at my life with a little more clarity and recall why it is that I love this life that I have chosen and furthermore, why I would recommend it to others.
My dream is to be able to work around the world, be compensated fairly, explore new cultures and provide a home for my family, with the additional possibility of creating my own business to meet the aforementioned goals. Well, my dream becomes both easier and harder to accomplish all the time. It becomes easier and easier to travel, to accept new work and new situations, to set up new homes. It becomes harder to decide where to go next, which offers too accept and which ones to leave behind. I have my own motivations and dreams that I hope to achieve. At the same time as I begin to put some of those dreams into concrete plans I am distracted with amazing offers to work around the world.
In the past month I have given yoga classes and Chinese Paper Cutting workshops at a Spring Break Outdoor Camp near Mexico City, I’ve been offered a job teaching young children at an International School in Bangkok, Thailand, I’ve been asked to think about setting up an Adventure Tourism Company here in Mexico with a focus on Canadian and American travelers, I’ve been offered a job as an activities planner at the Camp I mentioned above and I’ve been sent a request to audition for a part in a Chinese/American Television Program being produced out of Beijing, China for airing in North America. Not only are the offers interesting and stimulating, but there all over the place and quite random in their focus.
If you are willing to travel and try new things the world will open up for you. Many of us are lucky to have been born in First World Nations where we have been provided the education and preparation necessary to be able to grab on to the amazing possibilities of moving and working freely.
So this is the dream that we are blogging. My fellow bloggers and I are travelers, ready to meet the world and all its challenges with chins up and chests out. I say let’s go get that dream.
What is the dream? What is this dream that I should be blogging?
For most of us who made it to the CoolWorks website the dream is about adventure. About taking a chance and letting ourselves be challenged in a new environment, with new responsibilities and new people. About not being afraid to change our own worlds for new ones, where the opportunities to learn are abundant. It’s about taking control of our own destinies and changing the course of our lives. About saying, “yes, I can, I will, I’ll try, and why not”.
Many of us fulfill this dream traveling. As a student of tourism I studied and learned about all the benefits and drawbacks of the tourism industry. Tourism can take on many forms and faces. Experiences can range from a simple escape in the sun all the way to an engaging and educational cultural experience depending on what the traveler is looking for.
In addition to studying tourism I’ve had the opportunity to be a tourist many times and my travels always take on some aspects of education, of relaxation, and of adventure. As a tourist I am also often rewarded with a sense of self-empowerment that comes from taking control of my path and deciding where I want to go today and tomorrow.
There are, however, limitations to traveling as a tourist. One of the biggest limitations is economic. We can’t maintain a tourist attitude forever, unless we have unlimited resources to sustain that lifestyle without working. So eventually many of us have to submit and return to the familiarity of our daily lives, often times saddened that our experience had to end, back to work and back to normal.
Where is this leading? Well, back to the dream of course: adventure, new challenges, taking control. How can we make it so that the vacation feelings, the adventures and the new experiences don’t end?
By living abroad or living in a different State, Province, City or Town. Here is where we can extend our adventure into a genuine learning experience. Genuine is the key word here. As tourists we often see only a part of the reality of a destination. We get a quick look at the way other people live, a glimpse of life in a different environment, a peek at the social or political reality of a new place; maybe we learn a few new words in a different language. Many of us are motivated by these new findings but we only wade knee-deep into our explorations. To dive head first into these experiences we need to LIVE the new life, create a life in the new setting.
Now, I’m sure many of you are thinking that this is no longer tourism if you must work. You think, if I’m working it is not relaxing, and it is not a vacation. True. Living and working in new place is not tourism and it is also not a way to replace tourism and travel. Yet, imagine now that you find a job in a different country or even in the next town. It is as if you are bringing your tourism destination to you. You are instantly immersed in three great activities that provide some of the same stimulations as tourism and travel: meeting new people, taking on new challenges and opening your eyes to a new and changed environment.
When you meet a new person you are given the chance to see a different perspective on life. Sometimes when we are traveling we meet someone who is very interesting and we are able to quickly open up and share ourselves with the other person. This is ideal, but not usually the reality of the situation. The majority of people do not open up the first time you meet them. Trust must be established and then sharing can begin. That sharing is an amazing educational tool. It is like a window into another world, a new perspective. In order to access this tool we need time to establish relationships. This, of course, doesn’t happen during a weeklong holiday, but in a month or three months or a year people begin to share their outlooks and knowledge. You can begin to take note of attitudes, personalities and even the social contexts of the lives around you directly from the people who live there. This knowledge you absorb may be drastic and intriguing or subtle and guarded. Where people are more guarded the trust needed to open up sharing is even more important. This is especially true in many foreign societies where people aren’t as open as in the Occidental parts of the World. Sometimes customs create situations where we feel uncomfortable with new people. For example, when I was in China many foreigners told me they felt strange when a group of Chinese people would watch quietly as the foreigner shopped or merely walked by. This seems strange to you and me, but after living in China for a time I learned that for a Chinese person quiet observation is an excellent way to curb curiosity. Instead of hiding curiosity, they explore it. Many of customs and social mannerisms can be explained once you establish relationships in the community. Over time we, as outsiders, learn to accept and even respect these new customs, and that acceptance only grows with time and understanding.
When living away from home we are sure to encounter more trials since we are unfamiliar with the new place and its workings. Some challenges can be enormous and others minimal, but when you meet the challenge, big or small, and face it successfully you are sure to be filled with a sense of accomplishment. Imagine your first day learning the Metro lines or bus routes in a new city. When you arrive at your destination you are rewarded with a burst of confidence knowing that you can and you did. This may seem simple, but daily successes like this can fill you with a sense of accomplishment. Now imagine you are in a country where you cannot read, write or speak the language. After one week you can say where you live, hello, how are you, goodbye, yes and no. After two weeks you can tell someone what you do, ask how much something costs, say excuse me, and maybe even count to five. This learning is so fulfilling. The focus on the advances rather than the difficulties allows you to see each new achievement as a big step forward in understanding your new surroundings. In my experience, the longer you stay, the more you realize there is to learn, especially when traveling outside of your native country.
Once you begin to understand some of the ways to move or communicate or enjoy your new surroundings your eyes begin to open up to all the possibilities around you. Your new environment begins to make sense. You want to explore a little farther each time you go out. You begin to take advantage of the possibilities that exist in your surroundings. If you are an outdoor lover you will begin to investigate new hiking routes or tourism attractions near your new home. If you are a City lover then you will find new museums, theatres, shows and parks to explore. If you love culture you will notice the way people are living around you, their mannerisms, teachings and social protocol. You are surrounded by new experiences at work, after work or on the weekends when you have free time. You are constantly growing and learning and this advancement leaves you fulfilled and satisfied.
Many people have commented that it must be difficult to live and work in different places. I know that this is true for some people. This type of life is for those who have a longing to discover and explore. These are the people who will thrive and blossom in changing environments.
Every now and then it is important to clarify what you are doing and why you are doing it. This blog is a step back to look at my life with a little more clarity and recall why it is that I love this life that I have chosen and furthermore, why I would recommend it to others.
My dream is to be able to work around the world, be compensated fairly, explore new cultures and provide a home for my family, with the additional possibility of creating my own business to meet the aforementioned goals. Well, my dream becomes both easier and harder to accomplish all the time. It becomes easier and easier to travel, to accept new work and new situations, to set up new homes. It becomes harder to decide where to go next, which offers too accept and which ones to leave behind. I have my own motivations and dreams that I hope to achieve. At the same time as I begin to put some of those dreams into concrete plans I am distracted with amazing offers to work around the world.
In the past month I have given yoga classes and Chinese Paper Cutting workshops at a Spring Break Outdoor Camp near Mexico City, I’ve been offered a job teaching young children at an International School in Bangkok, Thailand, I’ve been asked to think about setting up an Adventure Tourism Company here in Mexico with a focus on Canadian and American travelers, I’ve been offered a job as an activities planner at the Camp I mentioned above and I’ve been sent a request to audition for a part in a Chinese/American Television Program being produced out of Beijing, China for airing in North America. Not only are the offers interesting and stimulating, but there all over the place and quite random in their focus.
If you are willing to travel and try new things the world will open up for you. Many of us are lucky to have been born in First World Nations where we have been provided the education and preparation necessary to be able to grab on to the amazing possibilities of moving and working freely.
So this is the dream that we are blogging. My fellow bloggers and I are travelers, ready to meet the world and all its challenges with chins up and chests out. I say let’s go get that dream.
Feeds