TRAVELLING
The Value In Travelling
By Margaret Muriithi
“
Once a year, go to a place you have
never been before.” - Dalai Lama.
An allegory by the famous Greek
philosopher, Plato is told. He uses the
cave as a metaphor to distinguish between
possession of education and lack of it. At
this point you must be thinking… aaamm
what does this have to do with me? Picture
this…
Plato describes a group of prisoners who
have spent all their lives, from birth
chained to a cave’s wall. They cannot
look around the cave, or at each other.
They spend their time facing a blank wall.
However, from time to time, shadows
appear on that wall. The shadows are from
projections of objects that often pass in
front of a fire that is behind them. The
prisoners give names to these objects.
These shadows, form their reality that is
how reality looks like to these prisoners.
They have never seen anything different.
However, one day, one of the prisoners
escapes. His attention is drawn to the
fact that the shadows on the wall, he has
been exposed to are not reality. There are
actually objects that project the shadows
to that wall. He discovers the sun and the
fire too. What they thought was reality, is
not reality.
He goes back and tells his fellow prisoners,
but some are not willing to leave what
they are used to seeing. He likens this to
real life when people are not willing to
leave a place because they do not know a
better life. The sun and the light he sees
outside is representative of the realm
of ideas one gets from seeing different
Don’t you think it would be great to see the sun
rise and set from a different part of the world?
To have a different taste on your taste buds?
To just see and let your feet feel the sand from
another ocean that you have always seen on a
map apart from the Indian Ocean? The Atlan-
tic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea perhaps?
There are numerous benefits associated with
travelling.
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things. The chains are likened to ignorance
and not seeking different experiences.
Plato used the allegory to illustrate
the nature of reality. Our reality is
fundamentally based on the things we
see on a daily basis and our experiences
throughout our lives. For us to elevate,
upgrade this reality, a person needs to be
exposed to different things. This will enable
them to see different perspectives and
combine this perspectives to come up with
a new reality.
Now, in my own interpretation, this can be
likened to living in the same city, meeting
the same people every day, working in the
same office and sharing ideas with the
same colleagues.
Of course I am not alluding that those
who do not travel are all ignorant. There
are time and budget constraints. However
good news is that travel does not have to
be expensive. It could be a neighboring
county that you have never been to or
a neighboring town, or just talking to a
person who comes from a different race,
culture, age, trying a new restaurant or
different cuisine.
You also have the internet. The internet and
specifically YouTube is a great resource. You
can choose to travel virtually and immerse
yourself into different people’s cultures and
thoughts.
Don’t you think it would be great to see