Countries
Appreciating other cultures
Appreciating other cultures
We are very lucky to live in an age of mass travel. Maybe jet travel will spell the end of humanity as we know it, but it certainly won't kill the planet, just re-shape it.
In the meantime, I have managed to visit a few places over the years on holiday and on business. Exposure to other cultures is endlessly fascinating, I've never wanted to be the typical insular Brit abroad with his baked bean-filled suitcase and demands for Sky Sports and huge quantities of booze.
I've always been open to adventure: in 1986 my then-boss asked if I would like to go and work in the USA. I immediately responded "Yes of course, when would you like me to go?" instead of the "I need time to to think about it" he would have got from anyone else resulted in 18 months spent living in a surprisingly different culture. I suppose I've never really got over it (or indeed over my love for the USA. With all its faults it's still the country where anything is possible, and often ridiculously easy compared to most other countries).
It is important to appreciate that in some cases these countries do things better than we do in Great Britain.
It would be easy, and great fun to post smug travel documentaries about the countries below (and I have in the past) but all my travel can probably be summarised with the statement "Guinea is a complete dump, but everywhere else is fascinating and worth visiting".