Maps and Mike's Travel history

This is the map of the world I have on my wall. My older brother gave it to me as a gift, and I spend a lot of time staring at it.

I spend a lot of time staring at maps, using maps in class, telling people about maps, drawing maps, memorizing maps, dreaming about maps.

I love maps. They share so much information in such a beautiful way.
This map (the Peter's Projection) is an important map, because it attempts to show the actual land size of each country in a proportional way. If you are able to zoom in on the map, it shows how a Mercator Projection (the most traditional map in the US) compares. If you look at the second map on the bottom it shows the size comparison between Europe and South America on a Mercator, versus how they are represented in this equal-area map. As you can see the difference is enormous. South America looks huge on the Peter's projection in comparison to Europe... and it is. Europe is about 3,930,000 sq mi, where as South America is 6,890,000 sq mi... that's almost 3 million square miles difference. Interestingly enough though, South America has about 300 million people less than Europe. So it is bigger, but with less population density... except, Europe's most populated cities are Moscow, Paris and London. Each with between 8-12 million people. South America's most populated cities are Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Bogota.
Bogota the 4th biggest beats London.
Rio de Janeiro is about a million short of Paris, but Buenos Aires tops it.
and Sao Paulo has over 8 million more people than Moscow.
South America's population is growing, while Europe's is in decline.


I bring all of this up, not to say Europe is bad, but because I have spent over a year of my life (through various trips) in Europe, but I have never spent a second on the South American Continent, and its about time.

When I stare at this map of places I have been and haven't been (red are countries I have spent time in) there are some huge gaps to fill. One of my life goals is to visit 6 out of 7 of the continents (I don't really have any desire to see Antarctica.   I am pretty close to this goal already with 4 of 6, but there are a lot of places I still need to see.

Future Trips (planned in my head) are to South East Asia, South and West Africa, the Middle East and eventually to Australia and New Zealand.

If this trip goes  as planned I will hit 11/12 countries and one overseas territory in South America. If I spend some time teaching and things settle down in Venezuela I will also travel there. 

But is it enough to just hop in and out of a country?

I think about some of the places I have been for only a few days and in many cases I have a strong desire to go back.  Many of the "countries" I have visited have really been just a few days in a major city. My time in Portugal, Belgium, Romania, or Belize could all be summarized this way. The short amount of time I spent gave me a taste of the culture, the language, the history etc, but I didn't really get a chance to observe the lifestyle or personality of the place. I didn't have time to really appreciate the complexities of life in those locations. So I find myself wondering how I will find time to plan a new trip back...  but then again, there are places I have spent a great deal of time and wonder when I will go back as well... So maybe there is no magic amount of time to spend. The point is I enjoy traveling, but I also recognize that I am a traveler. I am in and out, and don't really have to deal with the hardships, the efforts, or the successes that people who live there might.

Potentially if I find an opportunity to stay and work in South America, this could give me time to develop a deeper understanding of the place. I look forward to this opportunity, to stay and give back with my skills and experiences, rather than just my tourist dollars.

But before I walk away completely disparaging the hop in and out travel of my past... I do want to say a few words about the efforts I have made on the majority of my trips.

The majority of my trips have been educational in nature.

Here are a few examples

At the age of 21 in Delhi, India I went to an orphanage where all the orphans had HIV, their parents had died of the disease.

In Arusha, Tanzania I went to a school where the students didn't have desks (I was 16).

In Hong Kong at age 12 I went to see government housing, small cubicles for a family of 4.

In Northern Ireland I walked through the neighborhoods where The Troubles had destroyed people's lives (age 29).

 

In Guatemala I learned about the incredible history of the Mayan people in the city state of Tikal, and the colonial history in Antigua (age 26). 

In Sarajevo, Bosnia I learned about the efforts for reconciliation after the war for independence, and the selflessness of the residents, their willingness to sacrifice for their neighbors, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation, which helped them outlast the 3+ year siege (age 22).

In China at 12 I visited and learned about the Chinese Health Care System.

At 18 I learned about the Silk road, the carpet trade, the incense routes and other famous trade networks by visiting shops and talking to traders in Istanbul, Turkey and Fes, Morocco.

Preparation:

Before traveling I do quite a bit of research on the history and culture of the countries I will visit. Usually this means reading a few books on the history, reading current new stories and familiarizing myself with current political and economic issues. In some cases I try to prepare by learning a bit of the language, talking to folks from the countries or who have been there before. I watch documentaries and movies that take place in/or are about the countries. In some cases I look for contacts and opportunities to see things not on the normal tourist agenda. 



I am in no way, saying I am the perfect traveler... I am saying I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn about the world, and I try to take that opportunity very seriously.