Go Ask Mom

Amanda Lamb: Wanderlust

My advice is to journey, to wander whenever you can; it doesn't have to be far. Leave your town, your county, your state. Just go where the people are different and the Wifi is weak, and you will grow.

Posted Updated
Amanda Lamb with her daughters in France
By
Amanda Lamb
, WRAL reporter

The two things that make us grow the most in life are travel and grief. I don’t know where I heard this quote, but I never forgot it.

We choose travel; we don’t choose grief. But there is something very true about this statement. Both things force us outside our comfort zones, and it is only then that we truly expand our horizons and our understanding of life beyond our small, comfortable worlds.

The author Mark Twain said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.”

So, what does he mean by this? I think what he means is that once we are exposed to other cultures, we realize that we are so much more alike than we are different.

I spent the past week traveling with my two daughters in France. My older daughter and I met my youngest there after she finished a class trip which involved a homestay with a French family.

Besides learning the language, she learned so much about the culture and way of life. She shared her observations with us—that they tend to do things as a family, that mealtime is an important time to be together, that they don’t rush, stare at their phones or watch much television.

She absolutely loved the food. She told us they eat three hearty meals a day including rich desserts, and do not snack in between. How are they all so thin? We asked. She told us everyone walks, bikes and takes public transportation instead of relying on cars to get places including school and work.

Understandably, no culture, not even French culture, is perfect. For example, tobacco is still very prevalent in almost every public space there, making you feel like you have traveled back in time to an era before science filled us in on the dangers of smoking.

Unlike America, things are small in France—hotel rooms, cars and streets. The creature comforts that we take for granted—air conditioning, public bathrooms, and takeout food are not always readily available.

That being said—being exposed to another culture gives us the dual blessings of appreciating what we have and learning that not everyone lives the same way we do. A glimpse into a different way of life allows us to learn from others, to borrow from them things that we are missing and to realize how lucky we are to live the way we do.

Never knowing if and when I will be back, when I travel, I soak it in and breathe it in, so the experience becomes part of my story, part of the fabric of my life. Each trip is a notch on a virtual belt, something that changes me, moves me, and helps me see my place in the world for what it is.

We are but tiny specks in a great big universe. It is exciting, daunting, unforgettable, addictive. My advice is to journey, to wander whenever you can; it doesn’t have to be far. Leave your town, your county, your state. Just go where the people are different and the Wifi is weak, and you will grow.

In the words of Susan Sontag: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and the author of several books including some on motherhood. Find her here on Mondays.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.