georgiegirlnyc:

I like how Eric points out that the American dream suggests “Birth, School, Work, Death” as the ultimate path.  Growing up in Australia, there is almost an expectation that there will be a year of traveling thrown in there for good measure.  The British do too and describe it as their ‘gap year’.  In my mind, there is no better education than traveling the world and experiencing different cultures.  And don’t let money put you off - doing it as a backpacker on a shoestring budget will only enhance the experience.

lfarm:

So I spent most of the spring rationalizing why it would be a good idea to put my career on hold, leave NYC, and travel abroad by myself for the rest of 2009. Over countless drinks I went over the merits of the idea - my lack of attachments, my relatively young age, the whole “i’ll never be able to do this again” argument, but in private it remained a tough decision. I am certainly not immune to the very American structure that suggests that “Birth, School, Work, Death” is the American dream. Of course the working aspect of American life is a means to an end tool, but its ultimately the end that has made me so curious about the way I and many of my peers live their lives…

(via efstein)

This is so true. It makes me so sad that that was how American’s, and of course this is a gross generalisation, view life. Get out there and explore! See the world.