Traveling And Personal Growth

Let me tell you a personal story and share my reflections with you.

Today I'm a seasoned traveler, but already in the early days I preferred to set out on my own. When you go alone you meet more people which effects the overall learning experience - and I just love the thrill of traveling on my own. As a one-man team you got the freedom of a soaring bird, you go where you want and you can change your plans anytime along the way. However, from time to time I team up with travelers I meet for a refreshing change.

Spending Time Abroad

On an average, my trips last for 6-18 months. Spending that much time abroad has a powerful affect on you. And generally speaking, the younger you are the more you change. While away we're exposed to foreign cultures, foods and languages. We bump into plenty of fascinating people and the occasional oddball. The number of new experiences you can have in a short period of time really has an affect on your values and thinking - in short, you grow up!

Traveling is a great eye-opener. Anyone with an interest in traveling and personal growth has everything to win. I find it surprising, how I can spend 6 months round the Middle East without noticing any changes in myself. But once I've been back home for a month or two, I really start noticing it. You really have to go home to see these changes clearly and to understand how the new experiences have affected you. Your point of reference awaits back home.

Hitchhiking In Africa

I had been to northern Africa twice and really enjoyed Arab culture, especially the rich history, foods and down-to-earth people. But when I left the UK heading for Southern Africa, I had no idea that this trip was going to become the most life-changing of them all.

Hitchhiking is great and I just love meeting the locals, wherever I go. Sure, I've had bad experiences while on the road but with some healthy common sense, hitching is just fine. I started in South Africa, which still was in a noticeable state of change after the recent fall of apartheid. Besides, it's a stunningly beautiful country and getting a ride wasn't that hard.

South African Culture

The South Africans were all good to me, I found them a helpful group of peoples. At the same time, I experienced things that I had never seen anywhere else in the world. The South African culture was miles away from what I was used to, having grown up in Sweden. One evening, I saw a fight between a Zulu man and a Zulu woman. They ended up wrestling in the middle of the street. And I witnessed ugly racism like I had never seen it before. My experiences of South African society called forth strong emotional and mental reactions in me - some, very painful. What I'm touching upon here are experiences that trigger reflection which in turn makes for personal growth. Progress on this path can be painful, yet liberating in the long-term.

The Zambezi River

I continued hitchhiking and reached into Zimbabwe and Zambia. After a few days in Lusaka, Zambia, I slowly started to cover the long way back to South Africa. There are many stories to tell about my experiences along the African roads, but let me just share one of them with you - the most painful one of them all. I had just crossed the Zambezie river, from Zambia into Zimbabwe. The Zambezie is one of the longest rivers in the world and it's full of crocodiles. When the British ruled, in what today is called Zambia and Zimbabwe, they dammed up the Zambezie river and built a gigantic hydroelectric-power plant. The water from the Zambezie accumulated and formed a lake - called Lake Kariba. The lake became a popular destination amongst South African holiday makers who would spend a few days relaxing on a luxury house boat.

Zimbabwean Culture

So there I stood, just across the Zambezie, waiting for my next ride. I flipped through my passport checking how many days I had spent in Zambia. I put it back in the travel pouch and continued waiting. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic in the Kariba area, but before long a beige pickup truck pulled over. There were only two seats in the cab. The driver was white and next to him sat a black boy.

The driver who looked like he was about 50, rolled down his window and asked where I was heading. I told him I was on my way to Harare, the capitol of Zimbabwe. The driver said they were going there too. I would have been perfectly happy with sitting in the back of the pickup. I was ready to do just about anything to get out of Lake Kariba, but the driver signaled to the kid to change places. I didn't like the idea that the black boy had to give up his seat for me, however, I had learned by now that this was the African way and I decided not to argue about it. The boy kept eye contact with me as he got out of the cab and jumped onto the back of the pickup. I could see the pain in his eyes and that made me feel even worse about the whole thing.

The driver was a friendly man and told me about their business. They were on their way to Harare where the 13-year old boy was going to take a written exam to qualify as a house-boat skipper. I realized that this was a big day for him and that I had ruined it by having taken his seat.

The African Experience

Powerful experiences definitely have an affect on your values and the way you think about life. A few months later, I returned to Sweden. Normally, I would have to spend a month or two back home before seeing how a trip has changed me - but this time I was in for a big surprise. It took me a full-six months to clearly understand how the African experiences had affected me and those were six rather confusing months. It was as if my subconscious had to process every single impression, one by one, before I could understand myself again.

Best of luck!

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You are welcome to share your experiences with me!
Email me at sharing@axelg.com

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