In sixth grade, when I was eleven and twelve years old, I traveled around the world with my parents. It was probably the time in my life that has most shaped who I am. Looking back, it’s hard to think of the specific ways that it changed me because to a point, it changed the way I think about things and remember them. In fourteen months, between the end of fifth grade and the beginning of seventh grade, we visited fourteen countries. I biked through three countries in West Africa, trekked for thirty days around Mt. Everest in Nepal, biked 1,000 km across Cambodia, scuba dived in Thailand and Fiji, visited Machu Picchu, and saw the coffee country of Colombia. I learned more about life around the world in those fourteen months than I had been taught in the rest of my life before that.

The first thing that most people ask me about the trip is what my favorite place was. For a long time, I couldn’t really answer them. There were so many wonderful places and experiences that I just couldn’t choose. Finally, I decided on Nepal. The awe inspiring mountains and the relaxed and happy people made for an incredible combination. The Nepalese that live around Mt. Everest are Buddhists. They believe that you should live in the moment, enjoy what’s around you, and help make other people happy also. A lot of the places that I went, I had a little bit of a hard time relating to the people’s religion. In Nepal, it wasn’t hard at all. Who can disagree with those values? You don’t have to believe in the Buddha or the prayer wheels to believe that people being content and happy is the most important thing. And I don’t just mean in the moment. People do drugs to be happy in the moment. I mean working to have a life that makes both you happy and makes other peoples lives better for the future. That’s what’s important. You don’t have to have traveled around the world to know that and live by those ideals.

Another part of the trip that really stands out to me was our time in West Africa. West Africa doesn’t have the tourist attractions that South or East Africa do, so there are many rural people that have seen white people very few times in their life. Most of them don’t understand that we’re people just the same way they are. Since we were traveling on bikes, we had to stop in some of these small villages to take a break or get some food and water. This especially fascinated the children there, some of whom may not have realized that we would have to eat just as they do. Having all of those people watching me eat freaked me out at the time, but now I realize that there are also people in the rural US that have seen black people very infrequently. And it’s not only racial diversity; they might not have ever met someone from another religion. That’s not their fault in any way, but we should be very mindful of the fact that we’re all humans who share the same basic needs and desires.

Living in privileged and wealthy America, you always hear about how you should not take for granted what you have, because there are so many people out there that have very little in comparison. There are many ways in which that’s all too true, and I’ve seen it myself, but those same people telling us that, what are they doing to help those kids in Africa? We need to lead by example, but helping people doesn’t necessarily mean going to Africa. For most of us, all we can do is help make the lives better of the people around us. And if we don’t think that we can help, well there are a lot of people all around us that struggle, maybe not to find dinner for that night, but to find reason to make it to dinner that night. And let’s not do it all on our own; talk to people, help them, and teach them to help other people. It’s the actions of normal people that make this world a better place. Let’s remember that.