Chris Guillebeau—a man who has made it his mission to visit every country in the world by April 2013, introduced me to the following anonymous quote -
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
The recent events in Norway made me take a step back from this view, just slightly.
When you visit a country, and subsequently fall in love with it, you feel their pain in times of tragedy.
I’ve made no secret of my love of Scandinavia. I’ve only been to Norway and Sweden, but they easily take the number one and two slots respectively in my list of favourite countries visited so far.
When a bomb exploded in Stockholm last year I instantly felt their pain. What had Sweden ever done? It angered me that anybody could want to hurt a nation of people who I’d personally found to be one of the nicest in the world.
The recent events in Norway hit me even harder. I don’t personally know anybody who lives there, but I know many people who have family and friends living the country over. It’s an incredibly small country (approximately 12% of the population live in Oslo) and this loss is a horrible thing for them to have to endure.
Watching the cathedral service on television I could place the location perfectly in my mind. I’d walked past it a hundred times. I could picture it, just up from Oslo S station, down Karl Johan Gate. I saw a small shop in the background. “That’s where I bought my parents Christmas presents”, I thought.
It was a horrible feeling, yet again, watching a group of people manifesting in so much grief.
But then it struck me. Travel is supposed to broaden the mind.
What right have I to talk about my love for a country without feeling its pain during times of tragedy?
Travel broadens your mind in ways you can’t even begin to imagine before you step out there and do it. It may not happen right away, it may not happen until after the event. But it will happen.
If we want the world to be our playground, we have to take the rough with the smooth.
I’m thinking of you Norway, I’ll be back soon.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It hurts, doesn’t it? I feel the same way about Chile. I also witnessed the miners’ rescue live and lost sleep when the big earthquake hit. My friends are there, my home away from home is there.
Like in any relationship, you’ll have to endure the bad times as well as celebrate the good ones. But it’s not easy.
I completely agree Esther.
I’d rather be a well travelled, rounded person who has got to known different cultures across the world AND feel their grief in times of tragedy than simply going through life with little feeling for anything or anybody outside of my immediate day-to-day dealings.