Travel and Cultural Awareness

Going to new places, especially if they are outside of our comfort zone, creates some of the best stories and therefore wonderful learning opportunities.  Travel challenges us to reflect on our own culture and how we do and don't fit in.  When a person travels they are exposed to both universal truths as well significant challenges to their own norms.  Travel also creates long lasting memories that are retold in stories.  How often have you heard someone start a sentence with,  " I remember one time when I was visiting ....", or " I once was in ....... and I could not believe the ....."  We remember and tell the stories because they have an impact on us.   

 

Chris has spent a great deal of time visiting other places.  He has traveled around the United states for lengthy periods of times visiting  cities, state and national parks, enjoying new cuisines, talking to locals in small town cafes, and generally taking in the broad mosaic of different cultures our own country offers.  He has also lived and travel overseas.  He lived on the remote Pacific Island of Marakei, Kiribati for two and a half years, as well as Sydney Australia for a year and a half.  He has spent a significant amount of time traveling in  Asia, including The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand India and Nepal.  He has traveled to Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Iceland, and the Bahamas.  Everyone one of these places has taught him as well as created fun, frustrating and unusual tales.

 

During this workshop Chris shares a variety of these tales and how he has grown from everyone of them.  Participants will be asked to recall the places they have visited and some of the stories those travels have created.    At the end they will develop ways to recognize what they have learned as a result, and how they may utilize those lessons in the future.