{"id":5291,"date":"2014-10-10T18:30:49","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T18:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=5291&#038;post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-06-29T15:29:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T15:29:33","slug":"shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Lessons from a Citizen of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Fall 2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2008 at Los Angeles International Airport, I watched out the window as the ground crew loaded my bag onto a plane that would take me on a one-way flight to Australia. It was the start of a yearlong around-the-world journey and the realization of my dream to see other places \u2014 to find a purpose by experiencing other cultures and countries. I didn\u2019t know it, but that solo trip would evolve into six years of slowly working my way across the globe. Here are five things I\u2019ve learned from a life of travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The World Is Kind<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThere are real dangers, but for me, traveling illustrated the inherent kindness in the world. In every corner of the globe, new friends welcomed me into their homes, helped me when I was sick, and generously shared their cultures. Travel affords the chance to approach each new place with curiosity and empathy \u2014 an approach that is echoed back manifold.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Joy Is Everywhere<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIn so many countries I\u2019ve witnessed startling wealth disparities, vastly different educational systems, the effects of political and economic turmoil, and the hard work that goes into mere survival. Yet there was joy in even the most seemingly helpless situations. Long-term travel deepened my perspective on the world and instilled in me a daily practice of thankfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>People Like Us<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve spent hundreds of hours in deep conversations with strangers on buses, trains and planes. Each person offered a fascinating story, a nugget of wisdom or a nuance of the local culture. From each I learned a great respect for how different our lives can be, but even more for the shared commonalities. Laughter, love and community transcend culture and unite us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Safe Is Risky<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe idea of solo travel terrified me. Traveling pushed me into new situations where, at the moment of deepest fear, I realized the chance I was taking was the opportunity to live my life to the fullest. And I don\u2019t mean fears like physical danger, but rather the fears that whisper [to] conform and take the safe path. Those fears prevent us from reaching our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Door Opener<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cSmiling is a gift that transcends cultures. Though you should learn \u2018thank you\u2019 and \u2018hello\u2019 in the local tongue, language barriers are more easily dealt with than most people think. A simple smile has been the start of many amazing conversations over the years. That little gesture opened the door to offers of kindness because it made me more approachable. I count it among my most valuable possessions on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>View Shannon&#8217;s travel photos:<\/strong><br \/>\n[slideshow slug=&#8221;citizen-of-the-world-shannon-odonnell&#8221; caption_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243;][\/slideshow]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5832,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5291","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issues-14","issues-fall-2014"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Traveler\u2019s Handbook, Shannon O\u2019Donnell - 麻豆原创 Alumni<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Five travel tips from the National Geographic Traveler of the Year, guidebook author and voluntourism expert, Shannon O&#039;Donnell.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five Lessons from a Citizen of the World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five travel tips from the National Geographic Traveler of the Year, guidebook author and voluntourism expert, Shannon O&#039;Donnell.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/麻豆原创\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-29T15:29:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/10\/CitizenoftheWorld220x230-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@麻豆原创\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/shannon-odonnell-citizen-of-the-world\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Traveler\u2019s Handbook, Shannon O\u2019Donnell - 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