When in Rome...

We tend to travel for various reasons. Some of us travel to distant lands out of pure curiosity, others to escape everyday stress, to acquire a good dosage of sunny spells, to tick off an additional country on our list of “countries to visit”, to satisfy our zest for learning about other parts of the world and so on.

Though in reality it might just be that we travel to escape our familiar surroundings. It can at times become daunting being in the same radius, seeing the same people, doing the same things a hundred times over.

It feels like our bodies and minds cry out for some change, for an eye opener or simply to recoup our internal energies – to break free from the cycle of routine and duty.

Travelling has its virtue of setting someone free.  Not having to constantly watch the time or even cook dinner, one can savour the freshness of the air, the warmth of the sand or the salt of the ocean.  Over these, our minds can dwell for hours on end and thank Heaven for the blessing.

To many of us it describes serenity.

Some of us, besides gaining some sanity, we would also enjoy becoming acquainted with where we have landed. We would yield to a spirit of adventure and explore our new surrounding, see what magic it has to offer. The more daring among us might grab the guidebook and make a dash for unknown sights and sounds.

No sooner do we step out of familiar surroundings than we suddenly find ourselves no longer at “home” but in some strange land with everything around us diverse, from the people we see to the air we breathe.

This can be quite overpowering, prompting us to want to cling on to the familiar, the home grown. Some of us might go to great lengths to even want things in the new environment to be fashioned our own way as things are back home, that is. Nostalgic through and through!

There is no harm in educating others on life in other parts of our planet.  Lets travel to foreign lands by all means. But we need to remember its not always going to be sun, sand and sea. There are countless other wonders too.

Hence, when we observe the changes for example the unfamiliar way men and women dress, let us pause for a moment and ponder the reason behind the difference.

Dress codes normally signify the particular norms of a place; they tend to reflect on the culture of the area.  As visitors in a foreign country we already stand out and can be spotted from a mile. Therefore, we would never blend in entirely though what we could do is try as much as we can to conform.

Learning about etiquette and distinctive ways of life prior to our overseas travels is also of great importance.  A simple gesture as to whether to receive an item using the right or left hand could affect the way one is perceived by the local habitants.

We are not expected to become completely acquainted with or behave as the locals though there are certain norms we should become familiar with in order to avoid subconsciously causing offense.

The age-old maxim: “When in Rome (do as the Romans)” is a sensible guideline to travellers abroad.

Thus, as much as we would like to bring our perceptions and preconceptions with us when we travel, it is wise, to quote the maxim, to do as the Romans, that is the locals.

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