I Urge You To Travel More - Because Not All Classrooms Have Four Walls

When I was in 6th grade, I learned about European colonization. I memorized dates, names, and countries. But it was in the streets of Rio that I saw the reflections of this colonization and of slavery to this day, in the slums and communities scattered throughout the city.

In 8th grade, I learned the different political systems, its pros, and cons. But it was in a village in Denmark that I actually saw anarchism in practice and that I finally understood how a literally lawless city works. And it was in this village that I was surprised that this society worked so well.

In history classes I learned what Nazism was, the year it happened, and the number of people who died. But it was while traveling and encountering manifestations in some European countries that I could see how our world hardly learns from history and this ideology is still present today.

In high school, I learned about the different wars our world has been through. But it was walking down Cambodia's streets that I could see the impact one war has on the lives of people there to this day.

At home, I was taught Religion. But it was at the Medina in Marrakech, at a Buddhist temple in Asia and at St. Peter’s square in Rome that I understood how powerful human beliefs can be.

At home, I was taught the importance of valuing everything I had. The food on the table, the clothes I wore, the ceiling above my head. But it was volunteering at Northern Vietnam that I could really realize all the privileges I had while growing up.

At school, I never learned anything about sex education. It was through my gay friends that I learned how much their freedom to be who they are is restricted by the society we live in. At school, I was never taught about sexual orientation, not a surprise coming from the country that most kills LGBTs in the world.

In architecture school, I’ve learned that the first purpose of architecture is to create habitat and to fulfill the needs of society or individuals for places to work and live. But it was in life that I could count on my fingers the architects that I knew who design for social impact, not for buildings.

During the training to be an English teacher, I’ve learned how to teach and how to manage tasks. But it was in the classroom of a precarious village in Thailand that I realized how privileged access to quality education is. And how precious the knowledge of a language can be for changing someone’s life.

And yet, the area with the least financial aid investment in the whole world is education.

It was while traveling that I learned to share what I have because many times I was the one who had nothing. It was while traveling that I learned to say more "yes" to new experiences than “nos”. It was alone on the road that I learned to overcome my fears and to find solutions whenever I felt lost.

By living with a very wealthy family in Amsterdam, I learned that the less you have, the more you have. And then I’ve realized that I need much less than I thought I needed.

It was only recently when I’ve moved to an island in Southern Thailand that I’ve learned that there is nothing in the world more important than my freedom and being happy in my own company.

It was life on the other side of the world that made me doubt all the certainties I once had. It made me question myself. It made me question the world we live in. Life on the other side of the world made me question when it was in time - that we all lost the connection to our planet and to one another.

In life, I’ve learned to listen more and talk less. To observe more and to judge less. Life finally made me understand that often what bothers us about other people is actually a reflection of something we need to improve on ourselves.

Life showed me that we need to get away from everything we know so that we can see things differently. That we need to change to see things differently.

Change? We want a different world, but we are so afraid of change.

Funny, life on the road has been showing me a whole new world that they never showed me in classrooms. Don't get me wrong, I do recognize the importance of schools and universities in our educational system. After all, everything I thought I knew came from that.

But this same system has so severe flaws. And finally, for the first time, children around the globe are aware of it and breaking out of it. Finally, we are waking up to a world that has been already so awake.

We should never think that a paper degree is the only way to knowledge. We should go out more, travel more, explore more. Listen to the stories your teachers have to tell outside the classroom. Listen to that woman who created that social project in your neighborhood.

Read, but go beyond the words that are written on the paper. Doubt, at all times, the information that comes to you through your electronic devices.

Go see the world that exists outside the window of your house, outside of your books or of your smartphone screen.

Because life will teach you much more than any degree, household or newspaper can.