Thoughts on information and knowledge while planing for South America

I’m once again turning my world up side down, put my self in a situation where I have to learn a new culture and language. To learn Spanish is certainly going to be a big challenge for me.

Thinking about how it is going to be once I’m there. A lot of thoughts are going true my head. Trying to gather information. I’m getting other peoples view’s and ideas. But they have their perspective or glasses,  so, a lot of times the information is contradicting. Leading to a lot of confusion and miss conception. Together with my own imagination, I’m getting some type of image of how it is going to be once I’m there. But, whatever I imagine before I’m going, it’s going to be different once I’m there. That’s the beauty of traveling, I have to make up my own mind, see it my self. If I know every thing, why even bother getting on the plane.

I have previously been volunteering in India for nine month. What ever I thought before I went there, it was very, very different being there. My view of India is certainly different from others who has been there. It’s not a bad thing, just an obvious observation, that’s to often is forgotten or overseen.

Today, I read a newspaper article a girl from my hometown writing about South America, while she is traveling alone there. She pointed out that South America has a undeserved bad reputation in Europe. Almost every one I meet that hasn’t been in South America is concerned about safety and thinks it is dangerous, to dangerous. Every one I meet that has been there says, you are going to have an awesome time. The conversation starts in a completely different way. Their thoughts on safety is, be street smart, think, ask locals and you will be fine.

There has never been easier to travel, and information is a Google or Wikipedia search away. But how much do we know about the world? How much is guessing, outdated knowledge or preconceptions? Ask your self, what do I actually know about a continent that you haven’t been to?

The idea of knowing more then we/you actually do is the core of preconceptions. Creating problems that are harder to address and deal with, then just not knowing and realizing it.

[Via http://grahncalminder.wordpress.com]

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