背上背包去旅行：旅行的6堂人生課

Travel versus college: the eternal debate rages on with no clear-cut winner. Faced with rising tuition costs and a less than satisfying job market, many would-be college students are ditching their knapsacks and textbooks for rucksacks and guidebooks. But is putting your future on hold for a year of travel the best idea?

去旅行還是讀大學：對于這個問題，人們一直爭執(zhí)不休、不分勝負。面對不斷上漲的高額學費和就業(yè)市場不甚樂觀的前景，很多準大學生們都丟開書包、背上背包，選擇去旅行。但是把未來放在一邊，先去旅游一年，這到底是不是個好主意呢?

Although both sides have their merits, there are simply some things you'll never learn from scribbling notes in a stuffy lecture hall. Struggling to choose between travel and college? Consider these six lessons travel teaches you that college never will:

盡管這兩個選擇都有各自的優(yōu)點，但有些事情你永遠都不會從乏味課堂里亂涂亂記的筆記中學會。正在糾結是去旅行還是讀大學嗎?考慮一下旅行教給你的這六堂人生課，這些是讀大學永遠也學不到的：

1) You are capable of more than you've ever imagined.

你的能力超乎你的想象。

No one can deny it: Travel is transformative. And I'm not talking about tired clichés like "how backpacking through Europe changed my life", but the ability of travel to affect a tangible and lasting impact on your life.

無人否認：旅行即革新。我說的不是那些陳詞濫調：“遍游歐洲怎樣改變了我的生活”，我要說的是旅行會對你的生活產生切實而持久的影響。

Travel can turn introverts into extroverts, bring confidence to the meek, and create adrenaline junkies out of thin air; it pushes your physical and mental limits, forcing you to quickly adapt to uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations.

旅游可以使性格內向的人變得外向，溫順的人增強信心，還能憑空激發(fā)出強烈激情，發(fā)掘你的身體極限和心理極限，迫使你快速適應不舒服和不熟悉的環(huán)境。

Want to see what you're truly made of? Travel.

想真正了解一下自己嗎?那就去旅行。

2) People are fundamentally good.

人之初，性本善。

Whether you live in New York, Dubai or Karachi, human beings are driven by the same basic desires. We care for our family and friends. We seek to protect our loved ones. We strive to improve our lives day after day. Most importantly, we look out for one another.

無論你生活在紐約、迪拜或是卡拉奇，人類的基本欲望是相同的。我們關心家人和朋友，努力保護我們所愛的人，努力改善我們的生活，讓日子過得越來越美好。最重要的是，我們照顧彼此。

Without experiencing the world for ourselves we often lose sight of that, relying instead on cheap stereotypes to guide our thinking. Travel reminds us that we are more bound by similarities than separated through differences.

我們不親身體驗這個世界的話，就會迷失自我，受廉價的思維定勢影響。旅行提醒我們，我們對熟悉的環(huán)境親近無比，而對陌生的環(huán)境拒之千里。

Good is stronger -- and more prevalent -- than evil. Get out there and see for yourself.

美好的力量比邪惡的力量強大，美好也比邪惡更普遍。走出去，自己親身體驗。

3) You are but a tiny blip on a giant radar.

你只是大雷達上波動著的一個小紅點。

Our whole lives we're told were special. Starting at home, continuing into our school years, and even into college, parents, teachers, friends, and work colleagues all do their best to remind us just how important we are.

一生中，別人都會告訴我們，我們都是特別的。從家里開始，一直到我們多年的在校求學生活，甚至到了大學階段，父母、老師、朋友和同事始終都在極力地提醒著我們，我們有多么的重要。

It can be painful at first, but travel will knock that right out of you. Travel humbles you; it makes you truly realize just how small you are in this great big world.

旅行的最初階段會感覺很痛苦，但旅行會讓你重新認識自己。旅行使你變謙遜，使你真正意識到你在這個大大的世界上是多么的渺小。

You are a mere speck in an infinite universe. Accept it: You'll see it's not so bad.

你在一個無限宇宙中只是一個小斑點。接受它：你會發(fā)現(xiàn)并沒那么糟糕。

4) Stereotypes are ridiculous.

思維定勢很荒謬可笑。

Hollywood can really numb your common sense. If we believed everything we'd ever seen in the movies, we'd think all Russians are villains, all American college kids are alcoholics, and that all Australians do is hunt crocodiles and surf.

好萊塢真會讓你的常識變麻木。如果我們認為電影里都是真的，那么所有的俄羅斯人都是壞人、美國大學的孩子都酗酒、所有的澳大利亞人都獵鱷魚和沖浪。

Fortunately, travel clears your mind of (most of) that rubbish. Wander around a little and you'll discover that not all Germans are serious, not all Canadians are overly polite, and not all Swedish women are supermodels.

好在旅行會讓你的頭腦保持清醒，清理掉(大部分)垃圾。周游一下你會發(fā)現(xiàn)并不是所有德國人都嚴謹認真、并不是所有加拿大人都禮貌有加、并不是所有瑞典女性都是名模。

Well, maybe that last one's true.

嗯，也許最后一條是真的。

5) The world is not a dangerous place.

世界并不危險。

Turn on the news at any given moment: Reports about civil wars, armed struggles or terrorist attacks are never too far away. It's no wonder that announcing travel plans for places like Turkey, Israel or Indonesia can send loved ones into a panic. (I speak from experience.)

隨時打開新聞：報道的內容總是內戰(zhàn)、武裝斗爭、恐怖襲擊。難怪一提出去土耳其、以色列或印尼的旅行計劃，親人就會陷入恐慌。(我說的都是我的親身經(jīng)歷。)

Negative news sells, and without venturing beyond your backyard, it's easy to assume that chaos reigns as soon as you step out of your country's borders. Never do we hear those feel-good, heart-warming local news stories from around the world. They're out there. You just need to find them.

一系列負面新聞，再加上你不去后院外面活動，你自然會認為一旦跨出國界就會面臨一個混亂的世界。我們從來不會在新聞報道中聽到世界各地有那種給人感覺良好、溫暖感動的地方和國家。這樣的地方是有的，只是需要你自己去尋找。

6) One person can make a difference.

我們也可以不同凡響。

Grand gestures get all the attention. With philanthropists doling out millions of dollars to charities, it's difficult to see how ordinary people like us can affect positive change.

做大事業(yè)吸引所有人的眼球。慈善家給慈善機構捐款數(shù)百萬美元，像我們這樣的普通人卻很難看到我們能做出什么有影響力的作為。

Travel shows you the other side of the coin: how tiny gestures can add up to something truly meaningful. You'll see that don't need to save a whole village or solve all the world's problems to impact lives. Be the difference for one person at a time. Even the small can become mighty.

旅行能為你展現(xiàn)出另一面：改變再小都是有真正意義的變化。你會發(fā)現(xiàn)無需拯救整個村莊或解決世界上所有的問題，就會對生活產生影響。一個人的變化即使再小也可以變得很強大。