the importance of travel to me

The importance of travel and culture has been instilled in me since I was young. My family moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when I was 1 and my mum and dad always highlighted the importance in appreciating your surroundings, no matter where you are. I'm in no means saying travel makes you cultured, many people travel the world without experiencing the truth in the societies they visit, and many people never leave their country and still have the understandings of those who did. However, for me, travel at a young age only fuelled my desire to keep on experiencing new things as I grew up. 

Living in Malaysia in the 90's enabled our family to travel extensively around Indonesia and experience it without the huge amount of tourists that are there today. Experiencing them at a young age meant I don't remember everything, I remember the thousands of fruit bats flying over the beach in Boracay as the sun set and the smell of the busy humid air in Hong Kong city centre. However, because I don't remember everything I experienced it makes me want to go back myself and explore again. 

As the years passed by holidays came and went, but the excitement for them stayed the same. I am very grateful for the things I have experienced and only have my parents to thank. I have been to hundreds of places, but there are millions of new places to discover and that thought only drives my curiosity. My opinion is just one of 8 billion, but I believe travel is extremely important. It allows individuals to understand the world community, we can experience new cultures, new people, new food, new sights and new experiences that people would not otherwise experience. 

I realise not everyone has the money to travel, and many that do use it as a distinguishing feature of their character, that makes them see themselves as above others. We've all the heard 'this one time in Thailand...' and the whole gap year fiasco. However, it is undeniable that everyone who has travelled, whether it is to the other side of the world or the neighbouring town, have experienced something new. It is that persons choice in which way they take that new experience, but that experience will always be with them.