It Only Takes A Smile

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world

– Socrates

Yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend about the concept of globalization.  National Geographic defines this as “increasing connectedness and interdependence of world cultures and economies.”  And I would agree, to some extent the world is getting smaller. Post pandemic, all is possible and accessible.   We are connected in this technological fast paced world.  

My recent travels to places such as Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedona, and Gibraltar reminded me of this concept of globalization.  Many of these countries, I didn’t dream of visiting.  In my youth, I knew I would visit France, England, and Spain, but the Balkans were not on my list.  And yet I was here.  For some reason, I thought I would be one of the few tourists that travelled to this land.  I knew of only a tiny number of friends or family who have visited here.  But what surprised me were there were not only tons of tourists, but also digital nomads.  Our boundaries to where we travel now as Westerners have expanded.  I was particularly surprised by hearing so many American accents.  The Cyrillic language was made easy and translated into English in the city centers for access of non-locals.  Cafes were cutesy and instagrammable.  We don’t have to travel only to Paris to linger in a cute café, we can hop over to Skopje.    

         One evening in Sofia, we shared a dinner with two Italians that were colleagues and were living in Bulgaria.  We decided to sit at one table together, because the strict hostess at a local restaurant would not seat either of our parties of two.  Our attempt earlier that day to get reservations failed.  There were no two tables of two.  But now we could be a party of four, and so we sat with strangers.  When we walked to our table our new friend said, “it’s destiny,” I knew it was meant to be.  She was speaking my universal language of synchronicty and magic.  This woman had already lived in Serbia, Romania, and now Bulgaria.  She was in the textile industry and due to lack of jobs in her country, she sought work in the Balkans.  The European borders were open to her and she was immersed in it for years.  

Several days before this we had a server and consultant at this Creperie in Sofia.  He was Bulgarian, but lived twenty years in America.  We spoke of everything from Yogananda, consumerism, over working, yearning for peacefulness, to modern dating.  As we talked with him for two hours, I realized I had probably more similarities with him than I had with people in my hometown that never left.  

         This past week in Malaga, I hosted an event with Girls Gone International. We were a group of less than ten women, but all of us were from different location.  We were from America, Ukraine, Prague, New Zealand, England, and Australia.  All of us were living in Spain now, but have lived around the world.  The border lines between countries are becoming fainter.  We are more connected than we think. 

         And what I find is that I can connect with the people who have left their hometown to live and venture to other lands.  One has to know there are other ways to live in the world.  We limit ourselves when we think our town is the best one in all the lands and there is no other way to experience the world.  This is small town mentality, whether you are from Massillon Ohio or Malaga Spain.  There are other landscapes to see, exotic food to taste, fascinating people to meet.  You can return home, and have a base but know there is more out there.  The more we travel, we see that we are more the same than different.  There is not one way to be, but simply a way of living we have been born into and socialized to conform to.  

         I would love to offer you the gift of travel.  And it’s not just to see the landmarks that our favorite authors write about or visiting locations we have seen depicted in movies.  It’s not to consume the luxuries of the most exotic spices and textiles.  It’s the experience of interacting with others, and the breaking down of barriers that have been built up in our heads.  Globalization is normalization.  It’s validation of our connection and a reminder we are one.