Why Should Israelis Experience Different Cultures?

Experiencing other cultures involves obtaining a better understanding of the world around us. Yes, you can learn about other cultures by reading about them in books or watching different cultures on the television or on the internet, but the best way is through traveling to different countries. When you travel to a new country, this allows you to truly experience new cultures and traditions in a fully immersive experience. Years ago, traveling may have been costly, but today low airfares are enabling people to travel all over the world. Airfare is often a very large component of the costs associated with traveling and is often more than all the other costs put together. Therefore, if there is a drop in airfare prices then this will make it much easier for people to travel and see the world.

It is estimated that around 1.92 million people went through the Ben-Gurion airport last July, with August figures that year reaching the 2 million people mark. The main driver for this growth in travelers at the airport was the number of Israelis that had decided to travel overseas. People are now experiencing new cultures today than ever before. This growing trend is very important because experiencing other people’s cultures is interesting and helps make you a more well-rounded person. Travelling expands your awareness and really stretches your mind. While traveling, you can stop and talk to local people that you have never met before. Customs are almost always different, so make sure you take some time learning about how the different culture meets and greet people, prepares its food, spends time with their friends and even its views of the world.

Traveling abroad will allow you to learn and think in new ways, and it will even help you to learn how to be tolerant of other people’s different values too. This is a major milestone for many people who may have trouble trying to develop sympathy or understanding for other people or customs that they are unfamiliar with. If you meet new people in their country, experience their culture, sit down and talk with them, then it will be a lot easier to understand their point of view on a wide variety of topics. It is easy to foster and grow this understanding when you see the conflicts and misunderstandings from another person’s point of view. You will find that it is difficult to justify hatred when you can relate to another person’s culture. Sometimes, we’re blinded by the way that we have always done things or by observing what people have done when we were growing up.

For example, during a trip to India where I was writing deep content for a course I was launching, I learned just how different their culture is compared to the United States. I met friends who worked all day and night, and with even this limited time, they still spent time with their friends late into the night. This was an eye-opening experience for me where I learned that other cultures highly value their time with friends. In the States, this is not as common. I can’t remember sleeping early, waking up in the middle of the night and going out to spend time with my friends who had worked all day long.

Israelis, just like everyone else located around the world, are much better off when they understand other cultures, spend time outside of their comfort zones and spend the time and money to travel abroad to foreign countries.