If I Were 22: You'll Never Know Unless You Go

This post is part of a series in which Influencers share lessons from their youth. Read all the stories here.

Today, unlike when I was 22, we have extraordinary tools that keep us connected around the globe. New technologies have given us immediate access to information, even if we are miles and time zones away from the source. Thanks to Twitter, intelligence spreads at incredible speeds with updates given in real time. On YouTube, we can watch a video filmed by a passerby and see something unfold as if we were there ourselves. With Google Streetview, we can appreciate the streets of Paris from a public library computer in San Francisco, and vice versa.

Along with informing us, the Internet can take us places, even when we’re just sitting on a couch at home.

Nonetheless, as I sit at my computer with my slightly-over-fifty years of age, I will say something that might sound obvious but that our kids need to know: learning about a place, a people, a story or an event from the Internet is still not the same as living it or experiencing it in real life, and it never will be.

Of course, we can learn a great amount from the Internet, smartphone apps, books and so on, but the feelings, experiences and memories we gain from actually being in a place, beholding its monuments, talking to its people, learning and adopting their customs and ways of life and trying things ourselves are so much stronger, richer, and more valuable for our senses, and above all, our minds.

Dear LinkedIn readers, if I were 22, I would travel the world – for real.

This past year, my 23-year-old son, crazy as he may be, opted to sail around the world. Like any parent, I worry every conscious second about everything he may encounter on his journey, but I am also in high admiration of his courage, and most especially of his perspicacious decision to take a leap and a step back from our ever fast-paced lives to acknowledge the size of our planet, and most especially the extent of its people, cultures, stories and places.

If I were 22, I would go live and work in as many different places as I could. I would set out to learn and absorb as much as possible about the Earth that I am a part of, to become a true citizen of the world. (I apologize the following video is in French, but you get the idea.)

So you've read about the Machu Picchu, you've seen countless pictures of the Mona Lisa, the Taj Mahal, the volcanoes of Iceland, the beaches of Thailand, the carnival in Rio, Sydney's Opera House and Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral. But what is it really, to see them in real life? And most importantly, what will you gain from exchanging with the people there?

You'll never know unless you go.

I believe intellectual curiosity to be the key to a rich and successful existence. Today, well-roundedness isn't just about being book-smart, street-smart and athletic, it's also about being multicultural, which is fundamentally different than being 'global'. To be a true asset to the world, you have to know the world. It is essential if not crucial to be able to easily adapt to different situations and environments, and travelling is the only way to acquire this skill.

In a time when the term “citizen of the world” has never been more relevant, I urge you, the future leaders of the world, to expand your horizons in order to come together, and to live it.

So take a stroll, or set sail, around our planet with your eyes, ears and minds wide open, for experiences are infinite.

Photos: author's own.