Belize was the most culturally diverse country we had visited. What language should we use to greet someone, and what were our choices in the first place?
Browsing: Language and Culture
Robin Hood has returned to help the poor and steal from the rich. But what if you are the rich and he breaks into your overlanding vehicle? An essay about action movies, perspective, and losing your toolbox in Mexico.
Travel is a passion for many of us, a passion we often invest a great amount of time, energy, and resources into. But what, exactly, is its purpose? The answer to this question may look very different for different people. But what is it for us?
Traveling in Baja California, we have encountered a problem we foresaw before we got here. Although we came to Mexico to get to know the locals, we find ourselves primarily hanging out with other gringos like ourselves. Why does this bother us so much, and how will we solve the problem?
On our third night camping in Mexico, the words of the many people who had told us “Mexico is dangerous” rang in our heads. A story about camping, stereotypes, and striving to understand.
As of three and a half weeks into Mexico, chances to practice Spanish are everywhere. Although my language skills are still in their infancy, this does not deter me from enthusiastically engaging in whatever conversation I can.
Do we speak Spanish? As we get closer and closer to Central America, this question becomes ever more important. How do we plan on learning, and why is it so important to us in the first place?
Instead of becoming a teacher, I decided to move into my van and travel. Was this an irresponsible decision, was I failing to fulfill my obligation to make society better somehow? Or does traveling contribute too, just in a more unconventional way? A discussion on social responsibility.
In 1996, the journalist Jon Krakauer published a book called Into the Wild. It follows the life of a young man, Chris McCandless, who came to considerable fame by dying in the Alaskan wilderness near the town of Healy. Since then, Krakauer’s tale has been turned into a successful movie and both the book and the film have made Chris McCandless into something like an pop-culture icon for travelers. A reputation that McCandless himself would probably have hated. It also doesn’t do the ideals that this man lived and died for any justice.
Guns are an important piece of American culture. Loved, loathed, controversial, dangerous. But nowhere is gun culture as visible as in Alaska. An outsider’s perspective on the issue.