Barack Obama on why travel matters

[mfcorey1]

This month at the World Travel & Tourism Council global summit in Seville, Spain, BBC Travel was fortunate enough to attend a Q&A with former US president Barack Obama. In his wide-ranging remarks, the author and Nobel Peace Prize recipient talked to Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta about how travelling helps each of us discover our place in the world and the importance of celebrating each culture’s rich differences.

Obama’s remarks were an eloquent reminder that travel forges connections, inspires transformation and builds empathy.

What is the most memorable travel experience you’ve had and why?

I’m pretty well-travelled, so it’s hard to pick one. I think it’s fair to say that, for me, travelling now with my children is what’s most memorable. There’s something spectacular about seeing a place, experiencing a different culture, being exposed to new ideas. Travel makes you grow. But as a parent, when you are able to watch that sense of discovery in your children’s eyes, that is more special than anything else.

So, I’d say that the most memorable trips that I’ve taken have been the ones with the girls. Some of them have been spectacular – like us walking through the Kremlin when I was president and Sasha was about seven years old and she had, like, a trench coat on so she looked like an international spy. That was a great trip because we went from Russia and then went to Italy. I was there for the G20, but they went to Rome and they were able to also go to the Vatican and meet the Pope. Then we went to Ghana and there was dancing on the tarmac.

So, to see a 10 year old and a seven year old be able to experience that sweep of the world, to some degree for the first time, is something I will always remember. But you know, it’s also fun travelling with them now at the ages of 20 and 17. In some ways, travelling with them now is more precious because one’s already left the house and the other one’s about to leave the house, so if you can entice them with a really nice trip, they’re spending more time with you – because they can’t afford it.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190425-barack-obama-on-why-travel-matters

[Ohiogal]

1. Good God, how I miss

having a President this thoughtful, this intelligent, this appreciative of other cultures, this well travelled (for purposes other than an ego fest political rally to brag about himself) who writes so well.

Reading this interview was like returning to Planet Earth after being forced on a trip around the Universe for the Insane.

[MH1]

2. He's right about the benefits of travel. BUT

imagine the climate change impact if all 7.whatever billion of us could, and did, travel a lot, to faraway places. (visiting the next town over could have some benefit, but not in the same way as experiencing a wholly different culture).

The question is, how do we get people educated and empathetic about the experiences of others from vastly different cultures - WITHOUT the carbon-spewing physical travel?

[bloom]

3. exactly.

People could be putting that money into the art and culture where they live.

Of course, the CEO of Hilton wants everyone to travel.

[MH1]

4. Yes, BUT - those things don't have the impact of the travel experience.

I got a lot of travel during my time in the military, plus some I've done on my own. Later went to college and studied Sociology. I wrote a paper on the benefits of experiencing other cultures. You just can't get that "a ha", deep understanding, from going to an art museum. (which I've done plenty of great museum trips, too).

So my question is more than just rhetorical, and not a put-down of Obama's statement. I believe it is actually a critical question, an effective answer to which would lay the foundation for a far better society.

(FWIW, I think a national universal service program could contribute a lot. Not military service necessarily, but opportunities for a variety of essential work that gets young people into totally different environments. Benefits the country directly, prepares the youth for real jobs, and would have the indirect benefit - if done correctly - of exposing youth to widely different cultures.)

[bloom]

7. If people are serious about global warming - they can't be taking global trips every year.

Yes - there are benefits to travel. I would probably travel more if I had a lot of extra money - but much of the problem is that people don't have limits. They go as much as they can - and many can go a hell of a lot. We are destroying the world by loving it - among other things.

[MH1]

8. Absolutely. Thus the dilemma. nt

[llmart]

5. Rick Steves on PBS is always extolling the importance of travel.

He gives speeches on the subject all the time. He talks about how he got the travel bug very early on in his life.

I went to a liberal arts college that required every student to take a foreign language and in your third year you were to study abroad in the country of that language for an entire semester. You lived with a family, were told to speak the language as much as possible even if the family spoke some English. You took side trips to other countries while there. Fast forward about forty years and a young relative went to that same college and her so-called trip abroad was for two weeks, staying in a hotel in a country that most people speak English. I told her father, "That's not a study abroad program. That's a vacation."

When my son was in high school, he was in his junior year and he came home one day and said he had been chosen to be an exchange student and could he go? I didn't even have to think one nanosecond before I said, "Absolutely." I told him that there was absolutely nothing he would learn in high school that would be as important and life changing as living with a family in another country. He was required to keep a journal. He still has his photo album and journal and whenever we talk about his trip he always says, "Mom, that was the most life changing experience I've ever had to this day, and I'll always be grateful to you for encouraging me to go."

He's a liberal Democrat and still travels when he gets the chance.

[treestar]

6. What lucky daughters!

They get to spend time with such parents as they have! And they pay for the trip!

[GulfCoast66]

9. Before I traveled overseas I was a conservative. Reagan generation kid.

Once I saw Europe I realized I had been lied to and sold a bill of goods.

I wish I had started going at 18 rather than 31.

Retirement is our number 1 reason for saving and being frugal. Travel is number 2.