The week of all weeks—one that we’ve been waiting for since January—is seven days away.  Some people are going on foreign resort trips, cruises, etc.  But my question is this: What is the point of traveling if you aren’t even going to travel?

I’m sure cruises and resorts are fun, but that isn’t traveling.  Going to a resort in Mexico is basically going to an exclave of America, bordered by Mexico.  It isn’t experiencing a place, culture or people.  It’s experiencing an image of America put up to lure more Americans there.  Heck, the resorts and cruises that we all know and love are probably owned by Americans too.

There’s a difference between going somewhere for extravagance and going somewhere for experience and adventure.  And I understand that.  But I think that relaxation needs to be met equally with exploration.

Those traveling experiences can be so crucial in shaping someone as a human being.  Just being exposed to a completely different culture—or simply a completely different human—can alter someone forever.  Sometime, while you’re sunbathing on your big extravagant cruise, or drinking virgin margaritas in your Mexican resort, try and take a look outside of where you are.  Take a peek into the streets of the surrounding areas and wander until you get lost.  Talk with real locals, not just the ones working where you are at, and try to walk a day in their shoes.  Try and experience something different.

It’s not everyone who gets iPhones and running water every day.  Sometimes the places that we refer to as the most extravagant get-aways, aren’t all too extravagant just a few steps outside the golden walls holding America in, and the rest of the world out.

Ethan Dayton
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

*Editor’s Notes are published the first and third Friday of every month, as well as the Friday that an issue is released.