We often get asked why we are driving around the world. Questions like what charity is it for or what cause are we trying to raise awareness about come up fairly frequently. For the most part, we are driving around the world for our own awareness and adventure. What is wrong with that? Alright, we do realize that we are in a unique position to witness a lot of amazing things and meet a lot of amazing people, so as to not be totally self absorbed, we are sharing our experiences through writing, photography and video. I guess if we had to pick a "cause celeb," it would be to inspire others to get out and travel because of the value it holds.
Recently, we were talking with some people we met and were discussing how we were trying to inspire more Americans in particular to get out and travel considering how few actually do leave the country and given the substantial amount of influence the United States has on the rest of the world. One of the individuals disagreed and argued that our collective friends across the pond had more international influence. Were they right? Was I playing the stereotypical part of the dumb traveling American who lacks enlightenment about worldly issues? Did the European know more about my own country and it’s influence on the world than I did?
While waiting at the border to get into China I started to contemplate this whole influence thing. What exactly constitutes international influence? Is it military might, is it economic principles, is it the amount of foreign aid distributed abroad by a country? Maybe they were right and the U.S. does not have as much influence as I thought. Upon reflecting on our travels in SE Asia and now China, I now realize the folly of my assumption and will concede the extent of our lack of influence.
I concede the lack of influence in the case of the young Chinese border guard listening to a Brittany Spears song on his mobile phone. I concede the lack of influence while eating at a KFC in Malaysia. I concede the lack of influence while watching a kid in Indonesia shoot hoops in his Jordan jersey. I concede the lack of influence while watching continuously looped episodes of Freinds at every bar and restaurant in Vang Vieng, Laos. I concede the lack of influence while shopping for food at a Super Walmart in Kunming, China. I concede to our lack of influence while eating Chinese food in Jinghong while listening to the chef’s son tell me how much he likes hamburgers.
No Influence Here
Is Kentucky Part of the EU?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound arrogant or Amerocentric (if that is even a word), that is not my point. As you can see, from a pop culture standpoint alone, you simply can’t argue the fact that the United States does not have a significant influence on other countries and cultures. Obviously, this influence also bridges over into economic and political influence and I am not going to argue that our influence is all positive. The bottom line is that the influence is there and because it is there, we as Americans owe is to ourselves and to those over whom we influence to get out and travel more.
