Member-only story
Don’t be the Ugly American
Even when you find Ugliness Abroad
I recently returned from a vacation to Europe. I traveled to places I’d never been before — Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. I had an amazing time and didn’t want to come home.
However, it was not all a bed of roses. There were times I was inconvenienced. This is part of the reality of travel.
There are times you will be annoyed. Maybe you’re tired, or lost, or homesick, and you just don’t want to deal with one more irritation. Maybe you’re dirty. You don’t want to have to fiddle with the weird knobs on the shower, you just want it to work so you can get clean and go to bed.
When this type of thing happens, I remember something I learned from my mother, “Not all fingers on the hand are the same.” She says this in Gujurati, her native language. It means that not all people are the same.
When I travel, Mom’s wisdom keeps me from turning into the Ugly American.
I remind myself why I travel. It’s to experience new cultures and perspectives. It’s to discover unique beauty. Nothing inspires me so much. Yet nothing in life is perfect — neither the good things nor the bad.
In the midst of tragedy, there will be hope. And in the midst of something amazing, there will be annoyance.
