What is 'travel'?

Traveling is much more than sightseeing; it encompasses interactions, experiences, and life lessons learned. It's life...wherever you happen to be. In January of 2004, when I was about a year and a half into my first two years in Japan, I wrote:

One thing that I am grateful for is receiving the small kindnesses from those around me. For example, working in the small bakery near my apartment is an elderly lady who through the glass acknowledges my passing by with a friendly nod or wave. At the elementary school, the nurse whose desk is next to mine gives me gifts such as おにぎり (onigiri -- rice balls) and small trinkets. A few of the other teachers at the schools where I work have also been kind to me. I have gone out to lunch with some of the teachers before. I am pretty conscious of receiving the gestures of kindness from those around me in Japan. Not everyone around me is the friendliest sort of person, but, I do notice the friendly ones. Throughout my life, I should try to become increasingly aware and appreciative of others' kindness.

Does one have to be in a foreign land to experience diverse interactions and kindness? NO! Not at all! We can 'learn' wherever we are. Take the word 'learn' to not only mean 'learning for the first time,' but to include 're-learning' or 'growth from experience'...of course I didn't learn kindness in Japan for the first time, but I felt it, and was conscious of feeling it, to some extent...

So what's the point of even thinking about this? Well...for one, I think it could be neat to host or go to a 'travel party', where people could come together to share their experiences and interactions abroad. But I also think it could be neat to mix such stories with people's more localized stories of their interactions and life lessons learned. So...maybe the 'travel party' could become a 'life-sharing party' :)