What do you learn and absorb while travelling?
The culture, cuisine, scenery, or something else?
Will a toddler remember any of it?
We have been wondering that and also reflecting how much travel has changed for us. We aren't strangers to life on the road. Travelling is my job, I have ventured to around 100 countries and always have tried to find something unique and memorable where I go.
With Elena, we are noticing the scenery yes, but more how cultures interact with a little one.
In Canada, we have mostly been in a bubble with her. Friends and family cuddle, strangers are always at a distance.
In Korea, every where we went people couldn't resist cuddling her and she received an enormous amount of gifts (food) from people who would see her for just a few moments. Photos were always being taken, and it was like she was a star. I couldn't say enough good things about how Koreans treated her.
Europeans were mixed in their baby mentality, a little more than tolerating her at times and being extremely lovely in other times. Don't get me wrong, no one seemed to be anti baby and everyone was kind but it was definitely more reserved.
In Morocco, she has received kisses from hundreds of people. People want to know her name, her age and any tidbit of info they can learn. She's welcomed like family everywhere she goes and it is very sweet to witness.
So we wonder, is this a reflection on our cultures how we treat kids turns into how we treat each other? I think we could all do with being a bit more inviting and kind to each other.
So that thought, and a set of a few pictures from UNESCO site that just also happens to appear in a few TV shows and movies.