Capítulo 1
Beyond Borders: The Power of Purposeful Travel
In a world increasingly defined by divisions, Rick Steves stands as a bridge builder. On a rooftop in Turkey, I watched a whirling dervish perform his prayer ritual-one foot firmly anchored in his community while the other stepped around acknowledging the divine in all creation. This powerful metaphor captures what meaningful travel can accomplish: keeping us rooted in our identity while expanding our understanding of humanity. Steves' philosophy has influenced millions through his PBS shows, guidebooks, and tours. Even celebrities like Anthony Bourdain cited him as an inspiration for thoughtful cultural exploration. Unlike typical travel guides focused on logistics and attractions, Steves challenges us to use travel as a transformative force-not just seeing new places, but gaining new perspectives. His work has sparked a movement of Americans seeking more than just tourist photos, but genuine connections across cultural divides. In our polarized era, his approach to travel as a political act offers a refreshing alternative to both isolationism and superficial globalism.
Capítulo 2
The Purposeful Traveler: A New Kind of Ambassador
To extract maximum value from travel, we must deliberately step beyond our comfort zones and engage with locals through an open mind. Like medieval court jesters who mixed with common people and then told uncomfortable truths to kings without punishment, today's travelers can gather insights from places where people live differently and bring back valuable perspectives. Whether visiting El Salvador (where two-car garages aren't the dream), Denmark (where high taxes come with high satisfaction), or Iran (where some willingly trade freedoms for religious governance), travelers can return with insights our communities desperately need.
The rewards of travel only materialize if we're open to them. We must decide to become cultural chameleons-trying on new perspectives and becoming "temporary locals." Whether meeting people in Irish pubs, hiking Himalayan ridges, or sharing fashion tips in Iran, the right approach connects us thoughtfully with our world. My best vacations combine fun with intense education. Seeing how others solve problems makes me more humble and open to questioning traditional thinking.
Travel challenges truths we thought were self-evident, showing us that different people find different truths equally obvious. In Bulgaria, nodding means no; in French restaurants, slow service is respectful service; in Turkey, Ataturk appears in passing clouds. These insights help us see ourselves as others see us-enlightening if not always flattering.
The greatest travel rewards come from people you encounter-especially when you're open to letting them impress you with their culture. While at home we surround ourselves with similar people, travel connects us with those we'd never meet otherwise. In eastern Turkey, a wood carver declared, "A man and his chisel-the greatest factory on earth," refusing payment when I admired his work. In Afghanistan, before the Taliban, a professor taught me about cultural differences in eating habits, explaining that whether with utensils, chopsticks, or fingers, we're all equally civilized-a lesson that transformed my perspective.
We bring knee-jerk assumptions when traveling that sometimes help but often interfere with fully engaging cultures on their own terms. I was raised thinking cheese is orange and bread-shaped, but in France, I discovered hundreds of varieties and passionate cheese experts. Initially put off by European "sophisticates" with their fine wine and stinky cheese, I realized they weren't showing off but sharing their pride. By opening myself to new experiences, I've gained appreciation for "highbrow" things I never thought I'd understand.
Since 9/11, Americans have become more fearful and isolated, replacing "bon voyage" with "travel safe." But we often mistake fear for actual danger. I've been afraid before trips to Egypt, India, Iran, and Palestine, only to find my fears unfounded upon arrival. The actual risk of terrorism for American travelers is minuscule-millions visit Europe yearly without incident. When we build understanding through travel, we make it harder for governments to demonize other cultures and for terrorists to recruit.
The most powerful things Americans can do to fight terrorism: travel extensively, learn about the world, gain new perspectives, and help our country fit less fearfully into this planet.
Capítulo 3
Lessons from a Broken Land: The Former Yugoslavia
Since World War II, Europe has enjoyed unprecedented peace except in the Balkan Peninsula. As Yugoslavia violently disintegrated in the early 1990s, the world watched in horror. Today, just a generation later, countries like Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro are re-emerging as tourist destinations with natural beauty and warm welcomes. While locals prefer not to dwell on the war, traveling here offers profound insights into sectarian conflicts that continue around the globe.
In Dubrovnik, my host Pero Carevic shared homemade walnut grappa while showing me the mortar shell that destroyed his home during the 1991 siege. He smiled while holding it-a personal victory over destruction. From his perch, I studied Dubrovnik's patchwork of red-tiled roofs, where bright new tiles marked rebuilt homes. Over two-thirds of Old Town buildings were bombed. Today, relations between Croats and Serbs are improving. The bus connecting Dubrovnik to Montenegro runs again, and Pero now hosts Serbian guests who may have bombed his home years ago.
The Balkan Peninsula has long been a crossroads of cultures shaped by emperors, crusaders, bishops, and sultans-creating extreme diversity and unusual troubles. The region's ethnic balance is notoriously complex: Catholic South Slavs are Croats, Orthodox South Slavs are Serbs, and Muslim South Slavs are Bosniaks-all descended from the same ancestors with closely related languages. Their distinguishing difference is religion, though few are actively religious due to communist-era atheism.
Driving inland from Croatia's Dubrovnik to Mostar, I took the back road through Republika Srpska despite Croatians insisting this route didn't exist. Throughout the journey, I noticed how flags marked ethnic territories: Croat checkerboard flags, Serbian flags with four C's, and the neutral EU-designed national flag nobody embraces. Locals recognize subtle ethnic boundary markers-graffiti symbols, road signs, and even ATMs offering instructions in just one language.
Mostar embodies Yugoslavia's best and worst-once an idyllic mingling of cultures symbolized by its 400-year-old Turkish-style bridge, later the tragic poster child of the Bosnian war when that bridge was destroyed. Today, the reconstructed bridge represents hope, though the city remains largely segregated along wartime lines. In a park-turned-cemetery, every tombstone dates from 1993-1995, when people buried neighbors under cover of darkness to avoid snipers. "In those years, night was the time when we lived. We didn't walk... we ran."
Despite lingering tensions, life continues. The sentiment from locals is universal: "I don't know how we could have been so stupid to wage that unnecessary war." The lesson: take pluralism seriously, as failing to live peacefully together means everybody loses.
Capítulo 4
Europe United: A Continental Experiment
The European Union represents the Continent's remarkable achievement in avoiding war and integrating economies after hosting two devastating world wars. With 28 member nations sharing the same euro coins and working toward common foreign policy and legal systems, Europe offers Americans a chance to learn from both their successes and struggles.
Europeans strive for "big, good government" rather than seeing socialism as an all-or-none bogeyman. While enthusiastically capitalistic, they're more comfortable with higher socialism, believing that collectively creating their ideal society outweighs allowing individuals to build personal empires. Europeans pay high taxes expecting concrete results: comprehensive childcare, healthcare, education, and retirement systems. A Slovenian mother receives a year's maternity leave at near-full pay plus a state-subsidized newborn starter kit. Higher education is often free with student stipends.
Europeans have a different work ethic than Americans-they choose to work fewer hours for correspondingly less income, prioritizing life over business. While the EU has an economy roughly the same size as America's with nearly twice the population, Europeans earn the same per hour but work less. This trade-off means Europeans accept more modest housing, cars, and possessions in exchange for more leisure time. As my Greek friend who returned home after twenty years in New York discovered, Europeans "don't live to work, they work to live."
Europe's economic unification created a vast free-trade Eurozone with a single currency used across the continent. But this integration revealed that countries with vastly different fiscal philosophies must somehow function together. The EU operates with "net contributors" and "net receivers"-wealthy countries subsidizing poorer ones, similar to how American "blue states" subsidize "red states." The system works when all members pull their weight, but the economic crisis of the early 2010s exposed its vulnerabilities.
Beyond economic benefits, the EU's founders had a primary motivation: peace. By weaving together the economies of former enemies like France and Germany, they created interdependence that makes future European wars virtually impossible. Europeans prefer endless diplomacy to war, partly because they've experienced war's devastation firsthand. While Americans haven't hosted a modern war on their soil, Europe was torn apart twice in the 20th century. France alone lost half its young men in World War I.
The EU's official motto, "united in diversity," reflects its strategy of respecting ethnic diversity to preserve peace. Rather than erasing cultural differences, European unification has allowed three levels of identity to coexist: regional, national, and European. As Brussels gains power, national capitals are less threatened by "nations without states"-ethnic minorities with separatist ambitions. Catalonia, Brittany, Wales and other minority regions now enjoy cultural freedoms previously suppressed.
Europe's proven track record for pluralism gives me hope they can overcome their ethnic integration challenges. The Netherlands exemplifies this tolerance, having learned from devastating religious wars to welcome diverse peoples. Unlike America's tendency to legislate morality, Europe generally tolerates "immoral" acts that don't harm others. Prostitution is typically legal and regulated-Dutch sex workers have unions and licenses, Germans rent rooms in "Eros Towers," though each country has different approaches.
Despite media narratives about anti-Americanism, Europeans generally welcome American travelers warmly. Even the French, often stereotyped as hostile to Americans, consistently treat individual American visitors with respect. Europeans make a clear distinction between criticizing US policies and disliking American people. Europeans remain deeply grateful for America's role in defeating Nazism.
Capítulo 5
El Salvador: A Nation's Struggle for Justice
My four trips to Central America, organized by Augsburg College's Center for Global Education, have profoundly shaped my political views. Each visit revealed El Salvador's evolution: from Civil War in 1988, to US-backed corporate control by 1991, to commemorating Archbishop Romero's assassination in 2005, and finally witnessing former revolutionaries in power by 2010.
Before my first Central American trip in 1988, I deliberately avoided engaging with the complex economic justice issues in the region. But experiencing El Salvador firsthand ignited something in me, validating Jefferson's observation that travel "makes men wiser, but less happy." Returning in 2005, I found El Salvador "dollarized" since 2001, with American currency replacing local coins. The political landscape remained divided between the leftist FMLN and right-wing ARENA party, but globalization had transformed the country with American chains flourishing everywhere.
Beatriz explained her harsh economic reality: her tin-roofed house floods during rainy season, yet she feels fortunate to have it. While city workers earn $144 monthly, rural workers make only $70. Nearly half of Salvadoran families survive on $1 per person daily. Basic utilities consume a quarter of her income-electricity costs $19 and water $14 monthly-leaving nothing for her mother's brain tumor treatment. Her beautiful daughter Veronica dreams of going to the US, but the $6,000 "coyote" fee is impossible, and she would likely face sexual assault during the journey.
Globalization connects labor, resources, and capital worldwide, revolutionizing production and marketing in ways nobody fully controls. While the rich world portrays it as bringing resources to poor nations-with companies paying lower but locally generous wages-the reality is often exploitation driven by profit maximization. The scorecard is telling: in 40 years, the poorest countries' incomes have barely changed while the richest have nearly tripled to over $30,000 per capita. The bottom 40% of humanity subsists on 5% of resources while the top 20% consumes 75%.
San Salvador's poorest neighborhood houses 50,000 people atop a garbage dump-a ramshackle world of corrugated tin, broken concrete, and tattered laundry. A ten-story mountain of garbage teems with human "ants" picking through refuse while bulldozers reshape the landscape and birds circle overhead. A guard with a machine gun prevents access to one section where government aid items deemed too costly to distribute are being buried.
Liberation Theology represents the antithesis of religion as "the opiate of the masses." This politicized interpretation of Christianity, popular among those fighting for economic justice, teaches that every person is created in God's image with inherent dignity. Its adherents believe economic injustice and structural poverty offend God, and the downtrodden should mobilize for their God-given rights now rather than passively awaiting heavenly rewards.
El Salvador's civil war erupted when Liberation Theologians began asking why people were hungry rather than just feeding them. Archbishop Oscar Romero, initially considered conservative, became the voice of the oppressed after witnessing violence against the poor. When he was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass, the poor rose up, triggering a bloody civil war. Twenty-five years after Romero's assassination, I marched with thousands through San Salvador's streets wearing "Romero Vive" t-shirts. Romero prophesied, "If I am killed, I will be resurrected in my community." Today, colorful murals depict Salvadorans rising like corn stalks with bullet wounds in their hands-symbols of martyrdom and resurrection.
Capítulo 6
Denmark: Contentment Through Community
Denmark consistently ranks among the world's happiest countries despite high taxes and modest natural resources. The country impresses with its serenity, efficiency, and human-scaled pleasantness-from silent subways to picturesque countryside villages. Danish society functions like a finely tuned engine: highly taxed, connected, and regulated, with all gears properly engaged.
Denmark's contentment manifests in its serene atmosphere-even Copenhagen feels quiet with pedestrian-only zones and silent, automated subways. The countryside charms with thatched-roof farms, tiny harbors, and fairy-tale copper spires. Everything operates with minimalist efficiency, though Danes themselves often complain about minor inconveniences like an eight-minute train delay.
Danish society functions as a hybrid system that balances socialism with capitalism's fundamentals. Rather than prioritizing corporations, the government clearly represents people's interests-"If our government lets us down, we let ourselves down." This social ethic extends to rural communities where anyone can pick berries and nuts, "but no more than would fit in your hat." Even in business, there's an expectation of neighborly decency, as when a hotel was criticized for competing with Mrs. Hansen's long-established bike rental shop.
Denmark's success stems from their social contract: everyone contributes more than their share for collective benefit. Unlike Americans who embrace Locke's rugged individualism, Danes follow Rousseau's philosophy where everyone sacrifices a bit for societal harmony. They conscientiously avoid exploiting loopholes, understanding that if everyone cheated, their system would collapse. This explains why Danes won't jaywalk even at 3 a.m. with empty streets-social pressure reinforces collective responsibility.
Denmark's high taxes create a society where people consume more sparingly-sipping rather than gulping. A beer costs $10, coffee $7 without refills, and there's no "Big Gulp" mentality. Most striking is their approach to transportation: a 180% tax on new cars means Danes overwhelmingly choose bicycles. During Copenhagen rush hour, bikes outnumber cars, reducing congestion and pollution while keeping people healthy.
Since 1971, Christiania has thrived as Europe's most inspirational hippie commune, just a 10-minute walk from the Danish parliament. Despite being a political hot potato that no one in the Danish establishment wanted, it has survived through decades of challenges. Residents pool money to pay utilities and city taxes (about $1 million yearly) plus another $1 million for local affairs. While not everyone would choose to live there, Christiania represents something valuable: resistance against the giants of conformity that threaten independent communities worldwide.
Capítulo 7
Encountering Islam: Turkey and Morocco
Through travel to moderate Islamic nations like Turkey and Morocco, we can gain empathy and a balanced understanding of the world's fastest-growing religion, practiced by nearly one in four humans worldwide. While violent Islamic fundamentalists represent only a tiny fraction of Muslims, visiting these Western-facing countries offers insight into mainstream Islam and how these societies navigate globalization while maintaining their cultural identity.
Returning to Istanbul after nearly a decade, I found both comforting similarities and jarring differences that revealed how change is sweeping through this city of over 10 million where East meets West. The efficiency of Ataturk Airport, the familiar yellow taxis, and the chorus of barkers shouting "Yes, Mister!" triggered waves of nostalgia. The city simultaneously embraces modernity (like the new Bosphorus tunnel connecting Asian and European shores) while preserving its cultural essence.
In Guzelyurt, an obscure Turkish village, I discovered the rich cultural traditions that small towns preserve like humidors. During one visit, I arrived during a circumcision festival where a frightened boy dressed like a prince rode a decorated donkey through crowds of well-wishers. Another time, I witnessed a wedding where the oldest couple blessed the newlyweds with "May you grow old together on one pillow." The village taught me to see beauty in what initially appeared chaotic-like unfinished concrete buildings with exposed rebar. What I first judged as poor planning, I learned was actually a family investment strategy: parents build homes bit by bit for their children, adding walls and windows whenever they save enough money.
Years ago in eastern Turkey, I stumbled upon 300 children chanting "We are a secular nation!" in a stadium. My guide explained their concern about maintaining the separation of mosque and state amid rising Islamic fundamentalism. Today, Turkey remains officially secular, but with each election, the line between religion and government blurs further. As globalization accelerates change, many Turks cling to traditions and religious identity for stability.
Morocco offers a different Islamic perspective than Turkey. Under King Mohammed VI, who took the throne in 1999, Tangier has transformed from neglected "hellhole" to vibrant city. The king's modernization efforts include unprecedented visibility for the queen and gains for women throughout society. Wandering Tangier reveals a modest new affluence and energy without compromising Arabic and Muslim identity.
As a Christian seeking peaceful coexistence with Islam, I've found a stark contrast: American media fills me with fear about Muslims, while actually traveling in Muslim countries fills me with hope. The centuries-old tension between Christendom and Islam resembles a human and bear sharing a forest-both just want to "gather berries, do a little fishing, raise their kids, and enjoy the sun." Neither wants harm, but without communication, they might kill each other if paths cross.
Capítulo 8
Rethinking Drug Policy: Europe's Pragmatic Approach
As a board member of NORML and co-sponsor of Washington State's Initiative 502 legalizing recreational marijuana, I advocate for drug policy reform based on my European travel experiences. I'm not "pro-drugs" but appreciate Europe's pragmatic approach to drug problems, measuring success by harm reduction rather than incarceration.
While drug abuse destroys lives regardless of location, the US and Europe take fundamentally different approaches. America's "war on drugs" contrasts with Europe's varied solutions focusing on education and prevention rather than incarceration. European countries generally treat drug abuse as a public health issue, directing resources toward harm reduction both for individuals and society. Their three-pronged strategy involves law enforcement targeting dealers (not users), robust education programs, and comprehensive healthcare interventions.
In the Netherlands, marijuana isn't technically legal but has been decriminalized since 1976 under the Dutch principle of gedogen (toleration). They believe criminalizing something removes any ability to regulate it. In Amsterdam's coffeeshops, adults can purchase up to five grams of marijuana daily, though advertising is prohibited and customers must request the "cannabis menu." While most Dutch citizens have never tried marijuana or entered a coffeeshop, they believe the state shouldn't prevent responsible adult use.
Switzerland draws a clear distinction between soft and hard drugs, taking a harm reduction approach to heroin addiction. In Zurich, public bathrooms use blue lighting to prevent addicts from seeing their veins, while nearby machines sell government-subsidized sterile syringes for less than a dollar each. Heroin-maintenance clinics provide addicts with clean needles, nursing care, and counseling, treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one. This approach has decreased crime and HIV/AIDS cases while increasing recovery and employment rates among addicts.
Portugal, after emerging from Salazar's repressive dictatorship, faced a serious drug addiction crisis with about 100,000 hard drug users. In 2001, they enacted "Law 30," decriminalizing possession of small amounts of all drugs, replacing criminal penalties with minor punishments. A decade later, even the conservative government that initially opposed the law acknowledged its effectiveness. Portugal now has half as many addicts, fewer HIV cases, and more people in treatment.
In 2012, I co-sponsored Washington State Initiative 502 to legalize, regulate, and tax recreational marijuana for adults. Drawing from European models, I-502 included strict safeguards: keeping marijuana illegal for those under 21, enforcing DUI provisions, allowing employers to maintain workplace standards, and taxing sales. The initiative aimed to redirect marijuana profits from organized crime to legitimate businesses, with $500 million in estimated annual tax revenue partially funding healthcare and drug abuse prevention.
Capítulo 9
Iran: Beyond the Headlines
In early 2008, I embarked on a journey to produce a public television show about Iran, hoping to build understanding between Iran and the US and potentially defuse tensions that could lead to war. Rather than focusing on Iran's controversial policies, my goal was to understand its people and culture.
Filming in Iran presented unique challenges during my 12-day shoot across Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz, and Persepolis. I traveled with my usual three-person crew plus two guides: an Iranian-American friend from Seattle and a government-appointed guide who accompanied us constantly. While filming certain subjects was forbidden for security or modesty reasons, we were generally allowed to shoot what we needed, including provocative anti-American murals. I found connecting with ordinary Iranians remarkably easy when not filming, noting I'd "never traveled to a place where I had such an easy and enjoyable time connecting with people."
Iranians consistently welcomed me warmly upon learning I was American, creating a stark contrast with the hostile rhetoric between the two governments. Throughout Iran, propaganda billboards mixed religious messages with anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans, glorifying martyrs and promoting ideology rather than consumer products. Despite these official messages, I found the Iranian people's genuine hospitality impossible to reconcile with the hate-filled government propaganda, concluding that "politicians come and go. The people are here to stay."
Tehran's notorious traffic revealed surprising insights about Iranian culture. Despite chaotic conditions-eight lanes merging without traffic lights, motorcycle taxis weaving through congestion-I observed remarkable patience among drivers. When frustrated by gridlock, my driver Majid exclaimed "Death to traffic!" When I questioned this phrase, Majid explained that Iranians say "Death to..." about anything frustrating beyond their control. This casual usage made me reconsider the infamous "Death to America" chants-wondering if, like Westerners saying "damn this traffic," the phrase might reflect frustration rather than literal wishes for destruction.
In post-Islamic Revolution Iran, women's modesty is strictly legislated-where "a crime is a sin, and a sin is a crime." Women must follow hijab rules (covering hair with a scarf), while many traditional women choose to wear the chador (full black cloak). Despite surveys showing 70% of women would dress more freely if allowed, many push boundaries with makeup, visible hair wisps, and cosmetic surgery. I observed that in this environment of mandated modesty, "a tuft of hair above the forehead becomes the exciting place a man's eye tends to seek out," and women's faces become "particularly expressive and mysterious."
At Iran's vast martyrs' cemeteries, I witnessed the enduring grief of a nation that suffered over a million casualties in the Iran-Iraq War. Despite occurring decades ago, families still mourn as if their losses were recent. I met two families sharing dinner on adjacent tombs-they had met twenty years earlier while visiting their martyred sons buried side by side, became friends, and their surviving children eventually married. The cemetery visit crystallized my concerns about potential military action against Iran, reflecting that "smart and determined diplomacy" might prevent both nations from needing "giant new cemeteries for the next generation's war dead."
Capítulo 10
The Holy Land: Divided Narratives
Rick explores the Holy Land-a region sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews, where the three great monotheistic religions' stories have played out on a small piece of real estate fought over for centuries. Recognizing America's deep involvement in Middle East issues and commitment to Israel's security, I traveled to both Israel and Palestine with a "dual narrative" approach, giving voice to reasonable people from both sides of the conflict.
The Holy Land's complex history begins with Abraham, whose sons Isaac and Ismael gave rise to Israelites and Arabs-making today's Jews and Arabs genetic cousins with legitimate historical claims to the land. This ethnic complexity is further layered with religious differences: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Throughout centuries, the region endured numerous conquerors, from Romans who destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 AD and began the Jewish Diaspora, to Ottoman Muslims.
Jerusalem, once considered the center of the world, has been destroyed and rebuilt fourteen times throughout history. Modern Jerusalem houses about 800,000 people, with its historic Old City home to 35,000 residents living within two-mile-long Ottoman walls. The golden Dome of the Rock marks a sacred stone where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac-a spot revered by all three major monotheistic religions.
Israel's Jewish population recently passed 6 million-symbolically significant as it equals the number of Holocaust victims. The Yad Vashem memorial ensures this tragedy isn't forgotten, transforming visitors into pilgrims. The museum features a train car suspended mid-air, representing deportations to death camps. In the Hall of Names, about half of the 6 million victims have been identified, giving them the dignity of remembrance.
Land issues lie at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, particularly Israel's security barrier and West Bank settlements. The 300-mile barrier, begun in 2003, is called the "Security Fence" by Israelis who credit it with reducing terrorist attacks, while Palestinians call it the "Separation Wall" or "Apartheid Wall" and see it as a land grab that encroaches well into Palestinian territory. Israeli settlements-modern, subsidized communities housing over 500,000 Israeli Jews-dot West Bank hilltops. As settlements fragment the West Bank, I worry about three possible outcomes: two separate states, one pluralistic state (which demographic trends would eventually make Muslim-majority), or what some call an "Apartheid state" with Palestinians relegated to reservation-like areas.
Hebron, the West Bank's largest city with over 685,000 people, houses one of the holiest sites in the Holy Land: the Tomb of Abraham, revered by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Instead of unity, the tomb has become divisive. Israeli troops guard the center of town where Jews live literally atop Muslims, both communities struggling to be near their patriarch. Wire nets protect Arab markets from garbage tossed down by Jewish settlers above. The Tomb of the Patriarchs now functions as both mosque and synagogue, divided by bulletproof glass with Abraham's tomb in the middle.
My Holy Land journey challenged preconceptions, revealing that people whose language once sounded threatening to me are gentle souls facing enormous challenges. Two certainties emerged: violence solves nothing, and neither Israelis nor Palestinians will leave. Creating security, dignity and independence for Palestine serves Israel's long-term interests, despite the formidable obstacles.
Capítulo 11
Bringing It Home: Travel as Transformation
Returning home after travel makes familiar surroundings feel more precious. My re-entry ritual includes an American breakfast at the local diner-eggs over medium, crispy hash browns, and sourdough toast with marionberry jam. As the waitress refills my coffee, I reflect on countless different breakfasts enjoyed by equally particular people worldwide, yet feel certain this one is right for me.
Despite enjoying exotic travels, I cherish returning to my rooted life-the same Olympic Mountains view from my kitchen window I've had since childhood, my junior high school visible from my office. I transition gradually from traveler to homebody, living from my toiletries kit for days before fully unpacking, slowly trading the simplicity of a single bag for my complex home with its walk-in closet and entertainment system I've yet to master.
Travel doesn't end when you step off the plane home. The ultimate souvenir is a broader perspective that fundamentally changes you. Returning from significant journeys, you sense that while friends and coworkers remained the same, you're different-simultaneously enlightening and unsettling.
A wonderful byproduct of leaving America is gaining renewed appreciation for it. Frustrations with foreign bureaucracies make me thankful they're not part of my daily life. Population density abroad makes me grateful for my sparsely populated corner of the world. Through travel, I sample different tempos, schedules, seasonings, business environments, and political systems-some I prefer, others I'm glad don't follow me home.
Travel only becomes a political act when you apply your broadened perspective at home. While saving the planet alone feels overwhelming, taking concrete steps is empowering. I've learned to be an advocate for those outside the US who have no voice here but are affected by our policies. Travelers recognize that US elections impact poor people worldwide more than middle-class Americans.
I promote talking to "enemies" and reaching beyond like-minded groups. Rather than leaving my conservative church, I've stayed to contribute by teaching poverty awareness and challenging homophobia. I've found ways to translate global passions to local needs-using retirement savings to purchase an apartment complex for homeless mothers instead of collecting taxable interest.
After the USSR's fall, I thought American values of democracy and free markets would be unstoppable, with our economic might and hardball approach ensuring continued affluence and power. But today's outlook is more sober. We've been humbled by dysfunctional government, military power limitations, financial woes, the rise of India and China as economic giants, climate change concerns, and our inability to shape events at home and abroad.
In this Global Age, the world's problems are our problems, requiring all hands on deck. We must address challenges honestly and wisely, using lessons from our travels. We travelers serve as both America's ambassadors to the world and the world's ambassadors to America.
Thoughtful travelers know we're citizens of the world and members of a global family. Like whirling dervishes, we keep one foot planted in our homeland while acknowledging our vast world's diversity, celebrating our abundant life while working to help those blessings shower more equitably upon all.
