In April 2020 amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the international education community was facing layoffs and uncertainty in the future. Outside of the education space, the travel industry was equally as shaken. People began to question the benefits of globalization and favor a narrative suggesting that COVID-19 proved it was time to become more isolationist. It can be agreed that one lesson points to the necessity for a country to try and maintain a certain level of self-reliance, but the narrative forgets everything good about opening ourselves up to the rest of the world and exploring other people and places. 

 

This podcast began as something fun - and it is still fun - but it’s grown into something more: a means of promoting stories of people who have benefited from cultural exchange and who have further benefited their home communities from their own experiences. 

 

The ability to travel and to study abroad is still recognized as a great privilege in US society. In other parts of the world, academic exchange is much easier, while in still other areas of the world communities are even more enclosed. It is a gift to travel - one that takes from our forever home, the planet. As we continue to value intercultural exchange, we must too be advocates for policies that will safeguard our environment. 

 

In this podcast we learn about each other’s cultures, the value and passion of traveling for the sake of understanding each other, and the role of education in stimulating our curiosity and openness to finding ourselves abroad - “abroad” meaning somewhere foreign, even somewhere where the people pledge allegiance to the same flag as we do. 

 

We’re excited to take you with us on this adventure.