By Rita Golden Gelman
Author, Tales of a Female Nomad, Living at Large in the World and Female Nomad and Friends, Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World
I’ve been exploring the world for twenty-five years, ever since I divorced and asked myself, What are you going to do with the rest of your life? I’ll get to the main topic of this blog in a minute; but first let me answer the questions that usually follow that opening statement.
I paid the way by writing children’s books. When I left, I had published more than 50; they earned me some royalties which I supplemented by writing more as I traveled. Also, I pretty much stayed in developing countries which cost me very little. And I always found families to live with; hotels are not my thing. For many years I lived on ten to fifteen thousand dollars a year, easily and well. In 2001 I published Tales of a Female Nomad for adults; that’s still selling and paying the bills…along with Medicare.
OK. That’s it for history. Now for my passion and the subject of this blog. I’m determined to create a population in the U.S. that has experienced the joy of sharing lives and affirmed the beauty of our shared humanity. Because of the people I’ve met…from the royal family in Bali with whom I lived for four years to the Dani tribesmen in New Guinea, with whom I sang and danced and laughed for two weeks… my life has been filled with extraordinary experiences; I am constantly connecting on a personal level while learning to respect and understand others. I’m convinced that if more U.S. citizens would travel and interact, we’d have a more peaceful world. The kind of intolerance and xenophobia I see growing in this country would never take root in a population that has shared meals and songs across borders. It’s hard to drop bombs on people who are just like you.
During my nomadic adventures, I hardly ever meet Americans. I occasionally see some through bus windows, in the audiences of staged performances, in museums, cathedrals, historical sites…. but not many. Only 15% of Americans ever leave the North American continent. And I almost never see them in the villages of the developing world, interacting with locals. I’m determined to inspire others to have the kind of heart-opening interactions that I’ve experienced.
But how? Who? Where to start? After a lot of thought, I’ve decided that the best target for my efforts is the new high school graduate…before he or she goes on to the next stage of life. Most high school graduates do not know what they want to study or how they want to spend the rest of their lives. (I majored in boys my freshman year. I know a lot of people who majored in beer.) Fewer than half of college students finish in four years, and 30 to 50% drop out. The money that is spent trying to figure out who they are and what they should major in would be so much better used for the kind of experiential education that comes with an international gap year. The education that comes with crossing cultures, observing other ways of life, learning about themselves in challenging situations are life-changing for young people who have been on a conveyor belt since they entered school. The international gap-year-after-high-school is a cultural norm in England, Germany, New Zealand, Australia. Why not the U.S.? It doesn’t have to be a year. Any international experience, especially in the developing world, is a valuable contribution to an individual’s education. There are tons of ways to do it.
Two years ago I put my nomadding on hold to focus in on how to bring the gap year to the U.S. I’ve created a website, www.letsgetglobal.org, which has lots of information and links. I’ve also got a ton of ideas of how to create a gap-year norm in the U.S. Wanderlust and Lipstick has asked me to blog on the subject for the next three months. I’ll be sharing my thoughts and looking for yours. So please stay tuned. I’ll be back. And thanks. Together we can change the world.