Alvina is a U.S. citizen who is preparing for her first trip abroad. She will be traveling to Indonesia and the Philippines for work and has decided to extend her time away by a week to continue to travel in the region.
Alvina has been busy reading about the region, drafting travel plans and making lists of places she wants to visit and sights she wants to see. Alvina has been talking to her friends with more travel experience for advice and guidance for her time abroad.
A close friend, Natalie, challenges Alvina to consider how she may engage the experience not simply as a tourist focused on accruing experiences, but as a learner focused on better understanding the cultural values, behaviors and norms of the region. Alvina is intrigued when Natalie suggests that her experience has potential to help her better understand herself as a U.S. citizen and her location in the world.
Alvina is impressed and thinks about Natalie’s advice and how she might travel in a way that is not focused on her own consumption of other cultures, but instead on her own learning and development. Alvina is particularly struck by a story Natalie told about learning to explore other places and cultures without immediately comparing it to her experiences in the U.S. and determining whether the new ways of life she encountered were better or worse than her own.
Alvina commits to journaling while she travels, asking herself critical and reflective questions. As Alvina meets new people and immerses in new experiences, she enjoys mindfully documenting her thoughts and feelings and exploring where they come from.
- The Issue: Alvina is preparing for her first experience abroad and is seeking guidance from her friends about how to make the most of the experience.
- The Deliberation: Alvina’s friend Natalie cautions her about traveling in a way that centers Alvina’s consumption, rather than her learning and development.
- The Growth: Alvina internalizes Natalie’s advice and includes reflective writing as an aspect of her travel to facilitate a dialogue with herself about the origin and nature of her thoughts and feelings as she encounters new cultures.