It struck me in Rome’s Fumicino Airport, waiting for a flight to Istanbul. Two days before I had been in Florence, gettting up close with Florence’s famed Duomo’s (catherdral) famed dome, the largest in the world until Minnesota’s Superdome came along. When the dome was contructed, it signaled medieval Europe’s step into the Renaissance– a new era had begun of incredible artistic, architechtural, and other achievements. Only one day earlier, I had undertaken a whirlwind tour of Rome, including the Pantheon, another dome so impressive that the Germanic invaders of the Western Roman Empire left the building intact. And with only a four-hour flight, I would soon be in Istanbul, home of Hagia Sofia, once the most important building in all of Christendom. It too boasts a huge dome that appears to be floating, constructed almost 1000 years before Florence’s Duomo. To be able to see all three domes within the span of days is mind-boggling. For me, this sequence captures why I love to travel.
Travel provides the opportunity to visually learn. And I find that rather than moving through history in a compartmentalized fashion, it helps create both the visual sticking points (like domes) and the connections (Roman Empire to Byzantine Empire to Renaissance) that effective learning requires.
Actions speak louder than words and this truism holds for education as well. Travel is, I believe, the epitome of education-in-action. Not only does it provide visual sticking points, but being constantly bombarded with culture and history raises more questions than reading a page in a book (what are the differences between Hinduism and Buddhism and was there any connection between the Khmers who built Angkor Wat and the Chams in Vietnam?).
Of course, it is very easy to travel on vacation, even to a very foreign country, and still not learn a thing. The kind of travel that rewards the brain requires a little help. On Koh Pagngan, the island in Thailand that is renowned for its crazy full-moon parties, the main vacationer town is little more than a piece of land covered in shops and restaurants catering to the visitors (which often means a whole lot of bangers and mash) and cafes playing the latest movie releases. I’m sure it’s a delightful place to relax– but even more so is the herbal sauna at the wat between the port and the town. It was my first Southeast Asian herbal sauna experience and as I learned over the next month in Thailand and Laos, they are a common part of the culture and many women go there on a regular basis.
To travel is to see and experience history and cultures– the biggest and best social studies classroom in the world. So, if you’re looking to escape the cold weather, may I suggest taking a gander at new (warm!) country and seeing what you learn?
This is not the end! There should be at least one more post coming…
