You arrive in a new country at night, and check into a hotel. Then at 10a.m you meet your business associate, for a meal. You talk business, and then fly out. Get this: You have NOT really “been to” that country!
If your schedule makes doing the above necessary, I do not quarrel with that.
However, when someone says I’ve “been to” X number of countries, I always wonder if the above example describes the visits s/he’s made.
If it does, I would NOT want him/her to give ME travel tips to any of those places!
A Real Visit Will Go Beyond Interacting With An Isolated Group of Associates Based On a Tight Schedule
For instance, you want to make out quality time to see the sights and learn a little history about them.
You also would want to sample the food and drinks, try out their cultural outfits, and follow local news. Or even listen to folk tales while watching locals at work and/or play etc.
You would do the foregoing over a few hours, to a day or a week – depending on how long you’re there.
Doing the above will make you depart with a more accurate impression of that society than if you’d just breezed through!
I Call It Getting “Immersed” In Your Travel Experiences
Take it from me: Apart from yourself, exposing your child to the above kind of travel, can greatly boost his/her real world relevant intelligence, and know-how, in a way that directly leads to exceptional success in adulthood.
I say this based on my years of personal achievement, and from studying the lives of similar others.
For instance, I’m writing this article in a Cotonou Cyber Café a bit far away from Lagos, in my home country Nigeria.
By 1st April 2014, less than 10 days from now, I’ll have been here for a year, since relocating last year .
What I’ve learnt in that time, enabled me develop new strategies that’s taken my work to the next level.
If I had not travelled down here, those eye opening insights would never have come to me!
I Was Privileged to Benefit From Exposure to Travel Based Education Early In Life
And that’s even when the “travelling” was within the city I lived as a child!
In other words, I use the word “travel” in its normal, as well as a simplistic sense.
Basically, I’m saying MOVE yourself to explore the unfamiliar or unknown places, and people, around you!
At the age of 10, I began leaving home and “travelling” about 2 hours from Olodi Apapa area, to Ojo town as a first year student in Government College Ojo (where Lagos State University is today).
At that age, many of my peers walked short distances from home to their school, or their parents dropped them off at their school gates.
In my case, I got to do it all on my own EVERY weekday.
And those experiences shaped me into the fiercely independent person I am today.
The only regret I have about those early days is that I got into a bit of trouble by joining bad company. But looking back, even that “bad” experience further shaped me for later success!
For Over 3 Decades, I’ve Further Explored Benefits from Travel Opportunities of All Kinds…
This interest in travel was a major factor that influenced my decision to engage in competitive sports from the age of 12.
I’d been told it would involve travel at zero cost to me. I went on to play competitive handball, for school, state and university for about 10 years.
Plenty of interesting travelling happened in that time.
My Studies Also Afforded Me Varied Travel Experiences As Well…
I spent 5 years in a secondary school in Kwara State, in North West Nigeria. Then I did one year of Higher School Certificate (HSC) studies in Kaduna (travelling overnight by train from Lagos, between 1986 and 1987).
Then I moved to Oyo state in the South West for 5 years in the University of Ibadan. After that, I spent one year in Niger state’s remote Vatsa village in Nigeria’s middle belt area, observing my compulsory National Youth Service (NYSC).
It did not end there.
After NYSC I got a job with Guinness that eventually saw me being deployed to serve 7 years in their Ikpoba Hill based brewery in Edo State’s Benin City.
During 7 Years of Paid Employment In Guinness Benin, More Travelling Happened…
I made short visits of a day to 3 weeks to places like Port Harcourt, Owerri, Lokoja, Cameroon and Benin Republic.
Those trips were self sponsored.
On certain occasions, during my journeys, I slept overnight at motor parks in places like Lokoja, Owerri, within Nigeria.
One night, in Kumba, a border town on the outskirts of Cameroon, I slept – along with 11 other passengers – in a mini bus from 11p.m till 5a.m.
This happened in July 1999.
The driver told us it was necessary, to avoid bandits who ambushed night travellers on the road. We were headed, at the time, to Douala, from Ekok, a town sharing a border with Nigeria’s Ikom in Calabar.
I spent 6 weeks travelling across England, Scotland, and Wales, and after that, another week in Cameroon. In these latter cases, the trips were company sponsored.
In All the Cases Mentioned Above, I Actively IMMERSED Myself, to Maximize the Experiences I Had
By this I mean that I went out of my way to explore the environment, speak with the people, taste the foods, ask how to say things in the local languages, learn how to cook local meals, and of course make friends.
I did not simply sit back and look out from the window of the car or bus or train.
Instead I resolved, each time, to gain a clear idea of what the place and the people were like.
This habit proved invaluable to me when I ran into people who had been there before – or who were from there.
Within a few seconds of conversation, I often got complimented on my demonstrated familiarity.
In other words, I learned to appreciate the diversity of people and their cultures, and to welcome it. Nothing breeds tolerance and understanding than being “immersed” in travel experiences like that.
The people you do that to also feel good about meeting you.
And that could make them welcome someone they learn is from your country even more warmly!!
Final Words: The Benefits You’ll Get Are Multi-Dimensional – Here’s One Example…
In 2001, I was discussing with delegates from other countries on the final day of a one week course on Workplace Coaching Conversations in Douala’s Hotel Akwa Palace.
A colleague from Guinness Nigeria had asked what places could be visited over the weekend and I’d offered some ideas based on my 3 week stay in 1999.
A Guinness Cameroon manager expressed surprise that I’d visited Mendong and Oballa, two places he – who lived in Cameroon – had never been to, saying “Tayo, you have really visited Cameroon!”
That day, he insisted on having me over as a guest in his home for the weekend with his family.
The course facilitator also suggested since I could speak French and had been there before, I’d be in the best position to join the Camerooninans in implementing their run of the course!
And that’s just one of many ways travel based exposure can open doors of opportunity for you: you become more INTERESTING to others…an essential quality for success achievement!
PS: The second and concluding part of this series on Extracting Success Boosting Education from Your Travel Experiences goes live tomorrow.
In it, I explain how sports persons use educational benefits of travelling they do while engaged in sports, to succeed in their lives AFTER they retire.
And I’ll also offer tips any parent can follow to help his/her child successfully use travel based education to boost his/her chances of success in life.