The Profile Picture : My Story

In her essay, “Seeing”, Annie Dillard describes that someone’s perception of the world are based on preconceived judgements and ideas. Traveling is an example that illustrates that there are many different perceptions of the world, depending on the person. When one travels, their impression will be affected by expectations of the trip. Often, if someone has an image in their head of how traveling will be, they aren’t open-minded to diversity. An individual’s perception of traveling can be affected by what people find enjoyable, their tolerance of creating intercultural relationships, and their appreciation for their own life.

Throughout my upbringing, my mother, an immigrant herself, has always shared he passion of traveling with me. She continuously encouraged me to explore and understand other cultures. As a child, I traveled to her home country, Ecuador, where the culture is extremely different. She took me to all different parts of the country, immersing me in the different cultures of the coast and the mountains, taking me to small villages and local markets. In addition, on my 8th birthday, my family and I explored Europe. We traveled to England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Even at such a young age, I was eager to try all the different types of cuisine, learn a few words and phrases in each language, and visit local museums and monuments. In addition, to Europe, I also had the opportunity to explore Central America, exploring the pyramids in Mexico and …. Unfortunately, as I grew up, traveling abroad became more difficult as my school schedule and my parents work schedules became more demanding. I have always desired to expand my knowledge on different cultures and countries, especially in my mother’s homeland of South America. I would love to become more in touch with my heritage and learn more about the different cultures and people of South America.

Those who make a habit out of traveling the world, more often than not, become more of an extrovert than they may have been prior to their many journeys. It is no secret that those who make the choice to travel more often have a bit of extroversion in them, however, even the least social of any group typically find a way out of their shell when traveling. No matter the destination, it is the various interactions with people from foreign backgrounds, beliefs and cultures that present a challenge to the normality that most individuals cling to. These initial interactions create a comfortability, or openness rather, to engage with new people and see humankind through an altered, more optimistic lens than once

Throughout history, the progressions of mankind has given way to a perpetually globalizing world. Globalization, the “process of interaction and integration among peoples of different nations, has strengthened human ties while our race has formed societies in every corner of the globe. As our world becomes more interconnected, the resulting blend of cultures has led numerous societal features to be shared between peoples, blurring cultural division lines. Globalization’s tying binds may frustrate many modern travelers seeking unique and special travel experiences due to the standardization of destinations resulting from increasingly cozy international social relations, but continued and extensive human travel has demonstrated that the essential human urge to move is a product of our search for fulfillment in what is unfamiliar and will not be suppressed by global interconnection.

I know that I only have the one picture (update 3 1/2 pictures - so there). I have been told that I should post more but I don't have any. Seriously, what guy has a lot of pictures of himself? That just doesn't seem normal. I'll try to get more.

Millions of people are posting pictures of themselves and their life experiences online for the world to see. And of course, people only post things that will make themselves seem more cool, adventures, and pretty, basically, a better person. People make an effort to present themselves based on what others like to gain popularity. This effort to be “perfect” is now being seen through people in the real world. People view others based on what they see of them online rather than in the real world. In the articles, “Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?” by Don Tapscott and “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the scourge of the Selfie” by John Paul Titlow. Both authors show us without question, how the internet and social media have impacted the ways we view others and how we present ourselves to others negatively.

With evolving technology comes new types of social media, people have begin to question the internet’s effect on our mentality. It is a bit difficult to compare the pros and cons of social media, it has more to do with an individual’s experience.  Some could be having a horrible time due to social media, but others could be thriving off of it.  The more negative implications of using social media could be the way that we share our personal lives and how much of it we give to the public, regardless of social relationships, to consume.  Along with this, we are deeply impacted by what we see from others based on our viewing of what they share because of the ability to create falsified identities and unrealistic interpretations of who we are

Throwing oneself into an entirely different culture for a few weeks a year, is one of the most intellectually gratifying things I have come to experience. It exposed me to the fact that there is more to life than meets the eye. Accepting its complexity is almost as important as understanding what makes it complex. My visits to Poland have opened my one dimensional mindset, and allowed for more complicated reasoning. Traveling also forces an individual into strange situations they are unaccustomed to, and shows that not everything can be learned in a classroom. It teaches politics, economy, history, geography and less general things such as the ability to explore, grow, and make mistakes. They are left with the satisfaction of doing things they never knew they could

I officially declared my love for travel at the age of seven when my family and I took a trip to Barcelona, Spain. As soon as I arrived at the Majestic Hotel, the rush and excitement of being in a new place was a feeling I knew I never wanted to forget. Yet, it wasn’t until a family trip to Puerto Rico a few years ago that I realized my excitement about travel really stemmed from the additional meaning, and insight I was gaining into my own Hispanic heritage.

Due to the division between nations in the form of borders, travel is essential, not only in the form of commerce but also through the travel and vacation of a country’s citizens. This allows for the intermingling of people and culture creating similarities between nations, which were once completely different. Mark Twain once said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice.” Though this is true to some extent, it would be more accurate to state that experience is fatal to prejudice. As said by Harper Lee in her book To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” If you just travel according to a plan based on your prejudice of others keeping

Stepping out of your comfort zone isn't always easy, especially in a foreign setting. In my life, traveling has not only been a means of seeing new places, but gathering exposure to cultures that have led to a greater understanding of different and opposing beliefs that exist throughout the world. On my recent trip to Europe, I acquired knowledge of cultures that I could not even begin to comprehend had I not experienced it first hand. Experiencing circumstances on foreign grounds taught me that the area in which we live in can truly cultivate us into who we are and what we believe.

In a world where everyone can come up with an Instagram-worthy photo and a Facebook-worthy status at the touch of a button, authenticity has proven to be a hard pill to swallow. I found that, when saying

In today’s day and age, social media is popular more than ever. Now, just by clicking the “tweet” button, you can expose yourself and what you put out there for anyone throughout the whole world to see. Twitter, Instagram, etc have taken over the world, with millions and millions of users that range from super young to super old. Personally, I have three different platforms of social media. These include twitter, instagram and snapchat. I am interested to evaluate how I use it versus how I consider myself to be in real life and on a day to day basis. I believe the way that I represent myself on social media has some similarities and differences between my actual self on a day to day basis.

Travelling is important as it can remove the unintended prejudice that individuals carry out rashly. Sometimes, people unconsciously treat others differently solely based on their own beliefs. Since their judgement is based only on opinion, therefore it may be inaccurate to use when addressing the persons around them. However, exploring the world may lessen your tendency to be prejudice as you will gain detailed insights to the way others think, the way others see, and the way others live. Thus, this will allow you to not make foolhardy assumptions when being in contact with a society or community as you will be more knowledgeable to understand why they are the way they are. Removing prejudice from our lifestyle is very important to us as open-thinkers as we often make many mistakes in the treatment of other human beings. Prejudice is an undesirable trait to possess because

After working for 3 years, I was burnt out at work and wanted to rediscover myself and I could only think of travelling. But I always had this feeling that something is wrong. Neither I’d the money nor intention of wanderlust. I was just lost or maybe I want freedom of expression without being ending up in jail. I don’t know it yet. But one thing was sure and that was: I want to experience the world through the eyes of others. Living the lives of others or living with them provides you a window to enter their lives. I have always believed that travel breaks you free. My mind was conditioned to travel. I had changed almost a dozen schools by the time I completed my graduation. Oh boy!