Out Of The Woods

Americans just don't travel much. It is clear that, in this growing, ever-changing, more international, global world we live in, that there is a need, more than ever before, for Americans to gain experience and engage the world. Currently, only 30% of Americans hold passports, which is ridiculously low for a country of our size. If there is any evidence for this, it comes from Australia, the subject of constant discussion in the world of global economics. One of the most up-and-coming countries on the global stage, Australia also happens to weigh in at the top in terms of travelling. Coincidence? I do not believe so. While travel appears to seem as only a leisurely activity, it actually serves as far more. Interacting with, engaging, and investigating other countries can give a traveler some perspective when it comes to inspiration, fresh ideas, innovation. That perspective, I believe, is something all Americans need, and it will be the key to changing our lagging economy for the better.

Enter myself. I am a 4th year Appalachian State University student, majoring in Business Management with an advanced minor in Entrepreneurship. Until this study abroad program, I had not travelled outside of the US, or flown on a plane (thanks post-9-11 anxiety), or even travelled west of Amarillo, Texas. For myself, the question of "Where are you from?" was always a key part of my identity. Not "I'm from the USA". Nor was it even "I'm Southern". It was far more regional and specific. I am a product of Appalachia, more specifically Central Appalachia, and even more specifically West Virginia. The region is always known for its poverty, darkness, and isolation, and all of this is true. The isolation, I believe, is what the other two hinge upon. For myself, as part of West Virginia's modest middle class, getting out into the world was of upmost importance. Growing up in a state where you are constantly shielded by hills and mountains, despite having an wild, free, safe, wholesome upbringing full of inspiring beauty, there was always this curiosity about what was out there when I would stand out on top of Coopers Rock or Spruce Knob or Seneca Rocks. I feel that same curiosity that dwells in most West Virginians could be the same key to their rise out of the hollers of poverty and depression and onto the mountaintops of success, worldliness, and modernity.

Indeed, if I really wanted to better understand human potential, the world economy, business opportunities, and life outside of WV, Appalachia, and "The South" in a way that could enhance me as a person, inspire me as an Entrepreneur, and further my advancement in a world of economic ambiguity and what we knew in 2012 as "the end of the world as we know it", then I'd have to go out of my comfort zone. Yes, this decision would be expensive. Yes, it would frustrate my parents, who saw it as a waste and a "vacation with class credit". Yes, it would have everyone my hometowns of Monongah, WV and Hickory, NC turning heads and questioning my sanity.

I decided, as part of my coursework, to travel across the world. I decided to see somewhere that was so different, visually and historically. I wanted to engage people that were as culturally different from myself as possible, despite still being of the same species as myself. Somewhere where the rules and behaviors were completely reversed. Somewhere that business, culture, and life sat outside of the boundaries from which we knew. I decided to go to Vietnam and Cambodia.

The theme throughout this trip is water. Not simply because I was dehydrated the whole trip. Because I definitely was. Much of the commerce of this trip had to do with water. Where we can buy it, where we can swim in it, cool off in it, shower in it. What can we drink, what can we not drink. Water would play the most important part of this trip, to this extremely hot, tropical place. In Vietnam, ladies tried with such gusto and diligence to get us to buy water from them. In Cambodia it was hard to find bottled water salesmen anywhere outside of Siem Reap. In Southeast Asia, you can't leave the hotel without water because you will become dizzy and dehydrated. Sweat consumes you. Yet, people often go without clean water, or any water in Asia. Wine To Water is an NGEO focused on creating sustainable water sources in at-risk communities. It is with them that we partnered for this trip. Doc Hendley's book, Wine To Water, which was conceived simultaneously with the organization here in Boone, gave the outline of his social entrepreneurship experience, focusing on local sustainability from the supply chain to the wells to provide a system that does not rely on charity. As a Central Appalachian, I am no stranger to water problems. I grew up playing in the cleanest river in the US at my grandfather's cabin in Elkins, WV; I also lived in Morgantown, WV where trash fills the dam on the Monongahela. I was fortunate enough to have clean drinking water, but there are and were certainly children across the county without it. Our state even had a large water crisis in Charleston last year, leaving WV's largest metro without water for days as the result of a chemical spill. So in an attempt for perspective that may help me as an entrepreneur, as a global citizen, and as a spiritual person, I embarked on a trip to Asia. I went out of my country, out of my comfort zone, and out of the woods.