Over time, people have always been travelling one place to another in order to get familiar with different cultures and make new experiences. In last two decades, technology blurs the boundaries between countries. Hence, everyone can be acquainted with diverse cultures through mediums such as internet, movies, books, and so forth. While this is certainly valuable, the question of whether this approach can be a good alternative for travelling has become more arguable. Although it seems that the new approach will be useful, it cannot provide a unique information and first-hand experience that are achievable by travelling.
On one hand, it is undeniable that nowadays, reading books and magazine, watching movie and TV series, and searching through the internet and social media provided manifold avenues to obtain and learn more about different cultures and territories in the globe without any cost. Therefore, those who do not have the chance to travel around the world have the opportunity to find whatever they want to know easily. For instance, if you want to know about the lifestyle of Himba who lived in Namibia, what you need is just to go any search engine like Google and you find plenty of sites about them. Besides, we can learn from documentary films or books. Although knowledge gained online can help people to plan their trip better, it cannot act as a substitute for visiting the country.
On the other hand, there is a nuance between simply learning about a society from secondary sources and physically visiting and experiencing it. Researcher findings show that it is necessary to interact with the native people, participate in cultural activities and observe their lifestyle in order to understand the civilization and community completely. Meanwhile, based on my experience, those who visit physically and interact with others in their journey can learn and imbibe foreign cultures and traditions better than the others and they can develop healthy social relationships also.
From what aforementioned, it can be concluded that both points of view have their benefits. Although it is possible to learn about diverse cultures and traditions simply by surfing internet or reading books without ever visiting the country and people, travelling and being part of the community provides a holistic knowledge than the simple secondary sources can ever provide.
Over time,
people
have always been travelling one place to another in order to
get
familiar with
different
cultures
and
make
new experiences. In last two decades, technology blurs the boundaries between countries.
Hence
, everyone can
be acquainted
with diverse
cultures
through mediums such as internet, movies,
books
, and
so
forth. While this is
certainly
valuable,
the question of whether
this approach can be a
good
alternative for travelling has become more arguable. Although it seems that the new approach will be useful, it cannot provide
a unique information
and
first
-hand experience that are achievable by travelling.
On one hand, it is undeniable that nowadays, reading
books
and magazine, watching movie and TV series, and searching through the internet and social media provided manifold avenues to obtain and
learn
more about
different
cultures
and territories in the globe without any cost.
Therefore
, those who do not have the chance to travel around the world have the opportunity to find whatever they want to know
easily
.
For instance
, if you want to know about the lifestyle of
Himba
who
lived
in Namibia, what you need is
just
to go any search engine like Google and you find
plenty
of sites about them.
Besides
, we can
learn
from documentary films or
books
. Although knowledge gained online can
help
people
to plan their trip better, it cannot act as a substitute for visiting the country.
On the other hand
, there is a nuance between
simply
learning about a society from secondary sources and
physically
visiting and experiencing it. Researcher findings
show
that it is necessary to interact with the native
people
, participate in cultural activities and observe their lifestyle in order to understand the civilization and community completely. Meanwhile, based on my experience, those who visit
physically
and interact with others in their journey can
learn
and imbibe foreign
cultures
and traditions better than the
others and
they can develop healthy social relationships
also
.
From what aforementioned, it can
be concluded
that both points of view have their benefits. Although it is possible to
learn
about diverse
cultures
and traditions
simply
by surfing internet or reading
books
without ever visiting the country and
people
, travelling and being part of the community provides
a holistic knowledge
than the simple secondary sources can ever provide.