Sunday, December 18, 2011

OurGeneration:ModernDayNomads

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans peeked their curious little heads out of their caves and thought, "well dang...I better just do it." The world changed. Then there were the nomads, who got bored. So they thought, "hey, there's gotta be something beyond this river. Maybe I'll just take a quick look." That kind of out-of-the-box thinking has carried on through the generations. The explorers, the scientists, the astronauts, the nomads. Throughout the generations, discovery has been an essential component of development, of pushing the boundaries of the unknown.

Now, our generation, the kids who remember the first computers, who woke up to Saturday morning cartoons on ABC Saturdays, who remember pogs and pokemon and hair scrunchies, we are the generation with the power to change the world. We are the transition generation. We are the link to the world before computers and twitter and cellphones and the world now. But, this post is not about how amazing our potential is. It is about the transitioning world, and our place in it. There is a new culture of 'the shrinking world' which tells us we are in the information age, we know so much more about other cultures, languages and practices because of the internet and other forms of media. But what they don't mention is that things really haven't changed.

I am in the process of writing a book, a travel guide for the new generation, of sorts. Our generation, backpacking through Europe, teaching English abroad, volunteering on sustainable farms across the world, we are the modern day nomads. Instead of sheep herders and clans packing up to head to greener pastures, we are taking the step of traveling, going outside of our comfort zones and documenting our world adventures through journals, blogs, photos, and Facebook. We are documenting these experiences to share with the world, and to assist in the process of, of course, spreading more information.

The modern day nomads come in every shape, size and color. We are the people are break barriers. We are the people to introduce ourselves to someone who has never met an American, we are the people who eat tongue or intestines and enjoy it, we are the ones who learn the cultural dialect no one else speaks, we are the ones who are changing the world. Never staying in one place, the desire to experience the new, the unknown is unquenchable. Packing up and landing in the next place, the modern day nomads are a continuation of the nomadic developments since the beginning of time. We, however, are different in one very important way. We've got Facebook. ha. Just kidding. But really, we have the ability to spread our new-found knowledge, self and cultural awareness to others. Understanding is the only way to stop war, suffering, stereotypes and misinformation. So, fellow nomads, lead well, learn much, and share what you've learned so the world can learn with you.

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