{"id":1174,"date":"2010-02-11T07:57:26","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T07:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/theirbadmother\/2010\/02\/to-travel-perchance-to-make-the-world-a-better-place.html"},"modified":"2010-02-11T07:57:26","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T07:57:26","slug":"to-travel-perchance-to-make-the-world-a-better-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/theirbadmother\/2010\/02\/to-travel-perchance-to-make-the-world-a-better-place.html","title":{"rendered":"To Travel, Perchance To Make The World A Better Place?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love traveling. I especially love traveling with my kids. There
\nare, of course, a great many challenges associated with traveling with
\nyoung children, but I think that it’s worth it: there is nothing in
\nthis world that is so amazing that it couldn’t be made more amazing by
\nthe interpretive lens of a child. So whatever traveling I do, I try to
\ninvolve my kids, and I hope that as the years go by we end up doing a
\nlot of it.<\/p>\n

But as much as I want my children to appreciate the wonder of
\ntravel, I also want more than this: I want them to appreciate them what
\na tremendous privilege it is to travel, and I want them to be humble in
\nthe presence of other cultures. I want them to regard travel as a way
\nto learn, and a way to contribute some good to the world. So when I saw
\nthat one of the nominated projects in the Changemakers competition proposed leveraging the goodwill of travelers to advance the cause of maternal and infant health<\/a>
\n– by encouraging travelers to raise funds for, assemble and
\ndeliver\/donate birth kits to needy communities in or near areas that
\nthey will be traveling in – I was immediately intrigued. It’s easy,
\neffective – and it actively promotes the idea that travel can
\naccomplish some good, and not just yield a great collection of
\npostcards.  <\/span><\/p>\n

It did, however, raise a concern for me, one that applies more
\nbroadly to the idea of volunteer-tourism and socially responsible
\ntravel, especially if we understand such travel as something that can
\nbe done with kids (of any age): is the good that is accomplished by
\nsuch travel undermined, in any measure, by teaching kids (or, in the
\nabsence of kids, teaching ourselves) that we – Western travelers – can
\nor should play a kind of savior role in the world, that it is our place
\nand our duty to dispense goodwill and assistance to all those poor,
\nunfortunate communities that are so distant from our own? Does that not
\nimpart a kind of superiority complex, in the manner of a kind of
\nlatter-day noblesse oblige<\/em>? The lesson that we can and should
\nhelp when and where we can is, of course, a good one – a necessary one,
\neven – but isn’t there something of a complicated problem in teaching
\nour kids – or ourselves – that cultures and communities other than our
\nown are lacking and that we – on our holidays! – can fill that lack?<\/p>\n

I don’t know – I know that I’m not the first to raise these
\nquestions about volunteer-tourism, and I’m not even sure that they’re
\nfair questions. But they are<\/em> questions, and if I’m asking
\nthem, mightn’t my children also ask them? Children do, after all,
\npossess keen – and sometimes inconvenient – radar for these kinds of
\ncomplicated and uncomfortable nuances. It’s one reason why they make
\nsuch excellent travel companions. But it’s also why we need to think
\ncarefully about the kinds of adventures we pursue on our travels. End
\nof the day, I think that the idea of tackling maternal mortality
\nthrough volunteer-tourism is a good one, and one that has the added
\nbenefit of raising awareness of a global problem that is often
\noverlooked. And perhaps anxieties about privilege and the impact of
\nprivilege as these pertain to travel need to be exposed to exactly
\nthese sorts of questions – in which case, this kind of project probably
\nprovides more opportunity for so-called ‘teachable moments’ than
\nappears at first glance.<\/p>\n

I posted this as a contribution to Changemakers’ brand new MommyMovement website<\/a>, dedicated to mothers’ reflections on and contributions to making the world a better place. I’ve reposted it here because I want it to be a touchstone for me as I plot travel adventures with my kids. I want to make sure that as I explore the world with (and through) my children, I remain – and encourage them to always remain – mindful of and humble about our privilege. <\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love traveling. I especially love traveling with my kids. 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