Keeping up with the Bateses

Mark Twain once wrote, “…nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people.” At SMIC-I, SA Director Bethany Bates and Activities Director Brian Bates, two travel-lovers, share their experience and how travel has impacted their lives.

Over the last 12 years, Mr. and Mrs. Bates have been to “roughly 45 [countries]. About half of that is Europe, half is Asia, and a few other random regions.” These trips are mostly taken during the longer winter and summer breaks, with some occasional weekend trips to more nearby destinations. Though it is difficult to balance travel life with work life, as Mr. Bates admits, it does not stop them from pursuing their passion.

When asked about why they enjoyed traveling so much, Mr. and Mrs. Bates said, “we travel because it educates and challenges us…we find it so fascinating to see new cultures and to see what that new culture teaches us or expands about our own cultural identities.” They believe that everyone can benefit from traveling to other countries and cultures, even if only once. It may help them see the world in a new perspective. This reflects the importance of one of SMIC-I’s ESLRs: Global Citizenship. Being a global citizen, in this sense, isn’t just knowing what is happening in other parts of the world other than one’s own but to understand. “It can force empathy into you,” Ms. Bates offered.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of us need it sorely on these accounts.

The above quote from Twain is perhaps what summarizes the reason behind why many travelers find it meaningful. It is difficult for someone to simply imagine what the outside world is like, and travel makes it possible for one to go see for themselves. This breaks geographical prejudices and stereotypes that everyone has to some extent, even travelers like the Bateses. “…I’ll look back at the way I’ve done something my whole life, or the way I viewed something before that moment and get a tidal wave of embarrassment from how naïve or ignorant I was of something.” Visiting other countries, however, can change those false assumptions and expand the traveler’s mind.

**Crossing the Bastei Bridge in Germany**

After seeing the importance of traveling in their own lives, Mr.Bates and a few other teachers plan to start a “travel workshop” for the seniors. “[The seniors] are going from traveling with [their] parents [to by themselves]. We just want the students to be prepared to plan trips on their own and be safe, because a lot of the times it’s easy to forget about some of the pitfalls you can run into.” This workshop will most likely be offered second semester, so seniors with an ache to travel and a desire to be prepared will have something to look forward to.

And maybe even one day…keep up with the Bateses.