Why I Love Traveling.

The thing I love about travel isn't always the seeing new things. Its not the where you should go or the what you should do. Its the thoughts and ideas and experiences that come out of it. Yes, going somewhere and doing something is the medium that brings out the thought, but its the thought thats what is really interesting. How something opens your eyes and makes you think. How being in that particular place changed you. And made you realize certain things. The experience may be the way you will react to certain stimulus. It may be something you don't particularly like, but at least now you know.

There are many different ways to travel and every travel experience is a thing in itself. Sharing places you went and what you did is important. But the main focus is what did it really mean. That meaning can be difficult to find and may not even show up until later but I think it is pivotal. Hell some parts may not seem that important, but its all part of the story. People are a sum of their experiences. Travel opens you up to experiences that you probably won't be able to get from sitting in your living room. You could watch tv, you could read a book but there is something to be said for going outside and taking in that view for yourself. All other mediums are second hand. Experience is allowing yourself to take in something with only your filter.

The truth is you don't have to travel to have profound thoughts and to experience life. For me though, its just easier to always be learning and stay open to new things if I am constantly putting myself in new situations. Or putting myself in the same position but handling it differently because of another recent experience.

I love seeing and doing new things because of the ways it changes me, even if I don't realize what it has done at the time. What if thats the reason travel is the greatest therapist? Because you do or see something and then you are allowed to ask yourself, 'How did that make me feel?'

The Asian Squat: To Do or Not to Doo?

The Asian Squat is a full squat with your feet firmly planted on the ground, no tip toes. It may not seem like a big deal, but traveling to Asia has definitely opened my mind to this position. Mostly because it seems like everyone in Asia is doing it. The smallest of children to the oldest of adults, while playing, eating and everything in between.

The reason why it stuck out to me so much is because they seem so comfortable, almost as if they've lived their entire lives in that position. Its natural. Meanwhile when I tried to copy, my legs hurt and it felt incredibly unnatural to not pop onto my toes (More proof that I'm one of the worst Asians ever). But now I can comfortably stay in that position for like 5 mins. Win.

They say when you are in that position its easier to poop. Which brings me to chinese toilets. I haven't experienced this since I've been in thailand. Maybe because I've been going to all the right places. But chinese toilets are basically just porcelain holes in the ground, which you asian squat over to use. They say this opens up your bowels so you are able to use the bathroom better, but whatever help it does to my bowels, I'm pretty sure it would ruin me mentally. Regardless, the asian squat is a funny little cultural thing, gotta appreciate the little things. Also I have a theory that it might be the reason a lot of Asians have nice big calves.

Vlogging?

We are trying new things here. I think if you watch the video it explains most of the reasons why I'm doing this. Let's see where this goes. Thanks for watching, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Leaving Switzerland

Moving here was a incredibly unlikely move for me. When I first started researching schools, The Swiss Hospitality Management School (SHMS) was by far the most unrealistic choice. It was far away, it was expensive, it was in a country I'd never been to, it was just too nice. The problem is when I get crazy ideas, sometimes they happen. Its a blessing and a curse really. (Read more about my experience moving to Switzerland here.)

Luckily, hindsight is 20/20 and now that its all done, I still can't believe was has gone down here. Seriously, how did I move to Switzerland and do my masters? I was present every step of the way but I always expect something to happen that brings everything to a screeching halt. But it never happened. Everything just worked itself out, for better or worse, I'm still here.

I knew getting into this I never wanted to live in Switzerland forever, but it will always have a special place in my heart. I wondered if I could live somewhere that wasn't an island. Somewhere that was completely unlike what I'm accustomed to. And I realized, in the mountains, that it is possible. While this experience has taught me that I can't do everything, it has also made me realize, I can survive more than I thought.

Now I'm getting ready to leave this immaculately beautiful country and all I can think to myself is, I hope I can learn as much somewhere else. Switzerland, you've given me so much and I can't thank you enough. I probably won't see you any time soon but that doesn't mean I can't take you with me everywhere I go.

Tell me about your experiences leaving somewhere you never expected to go. Or better yet, what crazy ideas have you had that just seemed to work themselves out?

Getting Through Airport Security

Anyone who's been on a few commercial flights knows; Airport Security can be a real pain. I've never had a particularly bad experience with Airport Security but then again I've never tried to do anything to illegal in an airport. But its not very surprising to me that they do very little to keep us safe. Most of the time they just herd passengers along, barking in our face the things that most observant travelers know already.

Still, I don't just blame Airport Security completely for all the problems getting through the line at an airport. Passengers can also be just as antagonistic. They can be pushy, rude and just plain stupid. That same barking may not be necessary if after you hear "Please take your laptops out of your bags and put it in a bucket," you actually take out your laptop and put it in a bucket. In line doing nothing? Try reading the signs! They literally tell you what to do. Extra points if you figure out to do some of those things before you get to the top of the line.

Here are  a few tips I live by going through Airport Security that I think they've worked out pretty well for me;

• Prepare Before - Don't dress in clothes that take forever to take off. Don't put on a bunch of jewelry you are going to have to take off. Most importantly, Don't put a bunch of stuff in your bag that you are going to have to throw out, like water.

• Prepare In Line - If you are traveling with a bunch of stuff you couldn't avoid bringing in line, while you are in line start prepping. Take out that laptop. Take off that coat. Put all your things in your bag so you don't have to empty your pockets. This way when you get to the top of the line, you can just slide on through. 

• Be Nice (Smile Even) - Airport Security may not be nice or even demonstrate basic public decency, but thats no excuse for you being an asshole. Don't anticipate a problem and treat them like if they are already strip searching you. Be kind to them. A smile goes a long way, and they may be genuinely having a bad day and you being polite might just help. I think if I had to watch people leave on awesome vacations day in and day out, I'd probably become a serial killer.

Airport Security is a drag and apparently they don't really do anything to keep us safe. The system should be revised so every passenger isn't treated like a criminal. That being said, bitching about it in line won't help the problem. Please be mindful of the fact that you have to go through security. The faster you make your way through, the faster the rest of us can get to our vacations.

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Learning French

I may be moving soon. Unfortunately the country I may be moving to speaks foreign languages. Therefore, I'm pretending to learn French. I've got to say learning French has been much easier than the 'Learning Mandarin' escapade, but its still learning a whole other language.

Luckily, I studied a little French in secondary school. Unfortunately the only lasting memory was during End of Year Orals. I answered one of my teacher's questions with a confident 'Je ne sais pas' (I don't know) to which she chuckled and later told me at least it was in French. I considered that a win.

French is a lovely language, but I'm doubtful if I'll ever get the accent. Most of the words just seem to flow into each other, so I'm never really sure when one begins and another ends. Some conjugations of words are spelt very differently but sound exactly the same. Then there are some words I'm certain I'm pronouncing correctly but my computer gives me a sad error noise every time I say them. According to Rosetta Stone I will never be able to ask where my newspaper is, because I will never be able to pronounce 'le journal'. Worse case scenario I learn how to say Hello and everyone around me will assume I'm polite but retarded.

Bucket Lists

Now that you've watched Morgan Freeman explain what a Bucket List is; I should let you know that I love Bucket Lists.

I actually forgot I made a Bucket List from when I was like 13 or 14 then I found it and I was like, 'Hey, this is a good place to start but maybe put stuff on there that someone older than 13 would want to do.' So then I started adding to it, and from that the Ever Growing Bucket List was created. Pretty much every year on my birthday I add 5 more things to the list. They range from big long term impractical goals, to small things I could probably achieve tomorrow. For example,

30. Learn 3 other languages.

56. TP a house.

61. Go to Space.

Bucket Lists are good because they can focus your life. A list of things you should be doing with your life. They may not necessarily make your life better, or you may not get the experience you thought you would get. But at some point you thought this thing was important enough for you to say I want to do that with my life. My Bucket List, keeps me grounded. Sometimes when I'm feeling lost, I look at it and it reminds me of what I should be doing. Travel is a huge part of that since, most of the items are just things I need to go and see. From what I gather most people have at least one travel item on their list, and I think thats because travel is such a huge life goal; everyone knows they should probably be doing more of it.

Seeing someones Bucket List also gives you a good understanding of a person's inner-thinkings. This guy (Matt Bray), actually has a great bucket list and is recording most of his accomplishments on his YouTube channel, ProjectOneLife. You may remember him from my post on 100 Days of Dance. Its pretty epic and throughly enjoy watching this guy just live life.

Also, there was a pretty spectacular teenager by the name of Rebecca Draper Townsend who was in the news for pushing her friend out of the way of a truck, saving her friend's life. Her bucket list was short and sweet.

• Kiss in the rain.
• Fly to Spain.
• Save a life.

I don't think she had any idea of what that meant to write, but I'm impressed by her story and her balls to follow through. Check out more of Rebecca's story here in this SourceFed article, and for more check out the Facebook Community growing around her story.

On that note, do you have a Bucket List? If so, whats on it? Not that I'm being nosey, I'm just interested in what you plan on accomplishing by yourself. Because number 23 should definitely be Finish an XL Pizza alone.

Learning Mandarin

My family is taking a huge trip to the 'motherland' (China). Most of our families will be spending two weeks traveling from city to city, taking in the scenery, getting in touch with out roots and starting petty arguments. As much as I love my family, regular family lunches are enough. I'm pretty sure my travel zen will be put to the ultimate test on this trip. Regardless, one deep dark secret that has come out of the planning of this trip is that none of us speak 'chinese'. Most of our family is supposed to be cantonese but we don't even know mandarin. Which is part of the reason, collectively, we are the worst 'chinee people' ever.

To rectify this problem some of us decided to at least attempt to learn some mandarin before our trip, in order to resolve our family shame. Unfortunately, we are also poorly organized, so we haven't started classes yet. However, knowing three languages other than English is on my bucket list so I started learning regardless. In walks Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is a computer based, language learning system. It's expensive but supposed to be very effective. No doubt you've seen an ad for it, or been accosted at the mall by some sales person trying to convince you its better than sliced bread. Since I wasn't really sure how to start learning a foreign language like Mandarin, it seemed like the go-to place to begin. Biting off the hefty price tag is difficult but otherwise so far it seems to be worthwhile.

Except for one thing. I know I'm learning, but I'm not sure HOW I'm learning. Yes, I'm doing all the exercises. Yes, I'm getting them right. And Yes, I'm repeating the lessons I failed. But, how am I understanding them? It feels somewhat like a Jedi mind-trick. Where you look at some photos, repeat some gibberish, then all of a sudden beyond all uncertainty, you are positive that these are not the droids that you are looking for. Some characters are starting to look familiar and some are even starting to sound familiar but its definitely not sentences. And most of the recognition is more of a gut feeling than an actual certainty. Does this equate to understanding a whole other language? Granted I'm not even close to being conversational, but I'm pretty proud of my progress. On the other hand, since most of it is multiple choice, might just be good luck.

I guess only time will tell. If I'm able to engage in small talk without being abducted into the slave trade, I'd consider it money well spent. More than anything I just don't want to call someone a cow and then tell them about their mother.  Then I really will be the worst 'chinee' ever.

How about you guys, what do you do when you are traveling to a country that speaks a foreign language? Have you tried any language systems that actually work? Let me know in the comments down below.

And if you want to try Rosetta Stone, check them out here.

They've got loads of languages, and I think some of the online deals are even better than the ones they are peddling down at the mall. And if this all works out I may even try French next, gotta take advantage of those 2-4-1 deals.

UPDATE: We started and finished the classes. It was pretty sweet learning Mandarin with my family, this trip may not be a total disaster after all. Now we are just gearing up for our trip at the end of the month.

Don't Tell Me How Educated You Are

Learn to Travel - Travel to Learn (TEDx Video)

Traveling itself can be a teacher. But since everyone's experience is different, everyone learns something different. The best part, is most people's lessons come with great stories. I loved hearing what this guy has learnt from all his travels.

Its interesting that I've learnt similar things but my lessons were very different. You never know what you can learn from just displacing yourself.

How about you guys? What has traveling taught you?