Travel is an invaluable experience for those of us privileged enough to have the resources and opportunity to have an adventure.
When I was in my twenties I noticed something about me and my siblings. We were travellers. Real travellers. Adventure travellers. Myself and my younger brother travelled through India and Sri Lanka in our early 20s. Our sister travelled through China. Our eldest brother through Bangladesh and Thailand. All of this on our own initiative, and we have all travelled extensively since.
(And while for those of you who live in these great places it may seem a little ridiculous to call travelling through your homelands particularly 'adventurous,' from the perspective of Australian kids these places were (and remain) extremely exotic.)
But what's the difference between a traveller and a real traveller? What's an adventure traveller?" I hear you ask.
Indeed. What do I mean by this? Because nearly all of us travel.
Or do we?
Does 'commuting' to work five days a week really count? Does business travel count? Does a holiday to a safe and friendly environment really count? Really?
And does fleeing war with your family to become a refugee count?
No.
Adventure travel is about respectfully jumping in the cultural deep end to experience the world in a different way than the all too normal of home.
To wilfully discover and experience the truth that there are many normals.
I am proudly, passionately and gratefully Australian.
But I don't believe Australia is a great country just because of destiny or some other rubbish. There are many contributing factors making Australia the place I so love to be a part of (many of which are shared with other great nations):
- Our first nations peoples - the oldest surviving cultures on the planet (by tens of thousands of years)
- Our celtic (mostly Irish and Scottish) immigrant history, bringing with them a sense of the fair go and the unassailable truth that no-one is better than you just because of their class or monied privilege
- Our strong democratic foundations (the common law, the separation of judicial, legislative and executive powers of government)
- A workable balance between the growth opportunities presented by market economics and the sensible regulation of such
- A strong union movement working to build the rights of working people
- And many many more...
But it is through adventure travel, by experiencing other fantastic cultures first-hand, that we can truly understand the amazing strengths of our own culture, of our nation, of our country.
My siblings and I were really lucky - we all travelled through Europe together as a family when we were young. I believe it is this experience which then provoked us all to investigate the world in our own way in our journey into adulthood, and now our own life-journies.
I am really grateful for this privilege.
In the coming months and years I will continue a lot about how #steemit can be a force for building and expanding upon our understanding of the cultures of our fellow steemers.
Stay tuned for an exciting 
See also https://steemit.com/writing/@drwom/steemofconsciousness-filling-steemit-with-beatniks-and-steemniks
