The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: July third, asking where are today's young travelers?

Last month millions of Americans graduated from high school or college. Twenty or 30 years ago, it was common for young graduates to take a few months to see the world. With weighty backpacks, light wallets, and lots of wanderlust, they'd head to places like Europe to spend a few months experiencing whatever adventure came their way.

That globe-trotting was an important, if informal, part of their education. Exposure to other places and people is a natural antidote for youth's common misbelief: that the world revolves around both them and the United States. Foreign travel provides new measures of life's quality and value, broadens perspectives, and fosters global consciousness.

Unfortunately, these days fewer and fewer young Americans are taking that "once in a lifetime" opportunity. Though youth hostels around the world are still filled with travelers aged 16 to 26, relatively few are American. Instead, today's wandering youth seem to be from Europe, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Where have America's young travelers gone? As universities focus more on educating students for the work place, are graduates of today as inclined as their predecessors to worldly explorations? How many mistake virtual adventures on the big screen or World Wide Web for the real thing?

Remember, travel is broadening. Let's encourage our young graduates to get out and explore the world while they can. There's plenty of time later to take on life's responsibilities.

 

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