Travel to Grow

I just returned from a one month journey through Spain, Sicily in Italy, Tunisia, Morocco in North Africa and Mali in Sub-Sahara Africa. I made the journey with my 22 year old son, who just graduated from Boston College and who is teaching in Granada, Spain.

Two things stood out on the trip. The first was that after “fathering” my child for 22 years, it was wonderful to realize that it was time to look at him as an equal companion through life; one with whom I shared a very deep lifelong bond. He was the greatest travel companion one could hope for and the knowledge that he had been able to develop on his own was a deep pleasure to enjoy. “Sharing notes” about life, and about each other, was an incredibly engaging and helpful experience. It was almost as if your own soul traveled through another person, one whom you shared a lifetime with, and who spoke to you from a different perspective than your own. It was wonderful.

The second affect was that it was unmistakable how, throughout history, civilizations rise, prosper, are powerful and then fall. We saw the ancient Greek and Roman Empires, Carthage and Christian Byzantium, the Muslim Moors, the Ottoman Empire, African Empires like Songhai and the British and French Empires, come and go, flourish and fade away.

It did give to wonder about whether our great American dominance might one day end and it gave conjecture as to how, even with our many great American qualities, the US was able to grow so strong because the other great powers in Europe and Asia destroyed themselves in two successive world wars. One is left to wonder if contemporary superpowers, such as ours, come apart and end, or whether, more likely, they are just diminished in importance like the great colonial, imperial powers, Great Britain and France have been.

I made a similar trip 28 years ago as a 25 year old back packer. North Africa and Africans have gained much wealth over that time. Its roads, bridges and buildings are getting better. There are Chinese made mopeds all over, where people before would have had to walk. The developing world has grown much over the past twenty-five years. We’ve grown a little. It became obvious that more jobs previously done in the US are going abroad. It became clear that people in other countries can work with their hands at a cheaper rate than US citizens. It become clear that we Americans must become more educated and trained both in higher degree academic areas and two year skilled technical areas if we are going to keep our American dominant position in place.

I hope we have the strength to change to continue to prosper.