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Travel is more than ticking places off a bucket list. It’s not just about the photos, the food, or the landmarks — it’s about meaningful connections with people and places. In this video, we explore how cultural literacy can turn any trip into a deeper, more authentic experience.
🎧 Listen now and discover why understanding local culture truly matters: https://abusonadustyroad.com/why-understanding-local-culture-is-the-secret-to-meaningful-travel/
#ABusOnADustyRoad #TravelTips #CulturalAwareness #MeaningfulTravel #TravelSmarter #CulturalLiteracy #AuthenticTravel #LearnBeforeYouGo
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0:07
hi this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
0:09
podcast today I want to talk a little
0:11
bit about why when you travel
0:16
understanding the local culture is so
0:19
important i was telling someone the
0:22
other day about I was flying on a United
0:25
flight and a a flight attendant sat next
0:28
to me i said to her she said "Where do
0:30
you live?" I said "Oh I I live in
0:31
China." At time I was living in China
0:33
and she said "Oh do you speak Japanese?"
0:35
And I said "No I live in China not
0:39
Japan." So I think it's really important
0:42
that when you're traveling or if you're
0:43
in the travel industry you need to
0:45
understand a little bit about the world
0:47
and people in the world so first of all
0:49
let's talk about something which is
0:51
called cultural literacy and why does it
0:54
matter you know what is cultural
0:56
literacy cultural literacy is the
0:58
ability to understand and respect the
1:00
norms values behaviors and customs of
1:04
other cultures it's not just about
1:07
learning about what to do or not do it's
1:10
about knowing why those things matter to
1:12
the people who live there so let me
1:14
repeat that again because I feel like
1:16
this is really an important definition
1:17
to understand that it's not just about
1:20
like saying like oh you know I I
1:23
understand the history it's about
1:25
understanding why the norms values
1:28
behaviors and customs of other cultures
1:31
are important to them and the people who
1:34
live in those places why is that
1:36
important to them when you understand
1:38
these cultural cues you avoid being the
1:41
clueless outsider or become someone who
1:44
you know who you can become someone
1:46
who's then truly engaged with the world
1:48
part of my blog A Bus on a Dusty Road
1:52
and this Dusty Roads podcast is all
1:54
about living your life as a global
1:56
citizen and that's one of the things
1:58
that I really am an advocate for is
2:01
basically let's live our life as a
2:03
global citizen let's let's try to
2:05
embrace and understand other cultures
2:08
but not just you know embrace and
2:09
understand but really understand what
2:11
makes these other cultures tick why are
2:14
they the way that they are and so we
2:16
have a cultural understanding of the
2:17
world as I've said many times in this
2:20
podcast as I've said many times is that
2:23
you really it's not a matter of that you
2:25
have to really like travel to those
2:27
places but if you can just start with
2:29
wanting to understand you know in you
2:32
know people that from other cultures in
2:34
your own neighborhood that right there
2:36
is a start you know in practical terms
2:39
cultural literacy helps you by to avoid
2:42
offending you know local people if
2:43
you're traveling
2:45
it can build real connections with
2:47
people you can experience places more
2:50
authentically you'll really see an
2:51
authentic side of this part of the world
2:55
and you can navigate social situations
2:57
with confidence you without this
3:00
cultural literacy you're just a tourist
3:02
but with it you're a traveler who gets
3:05
it and I really love that thought that
3:07
you know without it you're just you're
3:09
just someone you're just you're just a
3:11
tourist just an everyday tourist to
3:13
somebody else who's touring but when you
3:15
begin to understand cultural literacy
3:17
you know you're a traveler who really
3:19
gets it who gets and understands the
3:21
travel in Asia relationships respect and
3:25
rituals are all very important many
3:29
Asian cultures value relationships and
3:31
social harmony you know in countries
3:33
like China Japan South Korea the concept
3:36
of face is very important to a person's
3:39
reputation and social standing that you
3:42
know this can play a huge role in daily
3:43
interactions you don't want someone to
3:45
be able to lose face they want to be
3:48
able to keep their face this will help
3:49
maintain harmony you take a typical
3:52
dinner in Asia if you're invited to
3:54
someone's home in China or Vietnam it's
3:56
not just about feeding you it's about
3:58
showing respect care and generosity your
4:01
host might insist you try every single
4:04
dish you know saying I'm full may not be
4:06
accepted the first time they want to
4:08
make sure that you're happy that you're
4:10
being taken care of to western travel
4:12
you know this could feel a bit pushy
4:14
like I don't want to try everything that
4:15
they're giving me or I don't really like
4:17
that but to them this is showing a
4:20
gesture of deep hospitality and in fact
4:23
you know when you go into some places
4:24
like some of these places you may
4:26
actually find even if you're in a
4:27
factory where you're eating and the
4:29
factory you know starts putting food on
4:31
your plate or they start you know trying
4:33
to force you to almost force feed you
4:35
this for them is a way for them to show
4:38
how much they appreciate that you are
4:40
there in Thailand cultural respect
4:43
extends the daily body language like the
4:45
head's considered the most sacred part
4:47
of the body so you don't touch someone's
4:49
head even playfully is considered
4:51
disrespectful
4:53
likewise the feet are considered very
4:55
lowly and dirty so pointing your feet at
4:57
someone especially a a Buddhist statue
5:00
or a monk is considered to be very rude
5:02
you know in Japan bowing is is not just
5:05
a greeting it's a layered form of
5:07
communication with different meanings
5:09
depending on the depth and duration so
5:12
if you've ever watched like Japanese
5:13
movies or Japanese films you may see
5:15
them bowing quite a bit and that all is
5:19
very much part of the cultural signs of
5:21
respect europe and one of the problems
5:23
that a lot of Americans have is they
5:25
don't tone it down and just listen more
5:28
that's why you know if you talk to a lot
5:30
of your European friends they might
5:31
consider you know some Americans to be
5:33
loudmouthed and you know big mouth
5:36
because they feel like you know
5:37
Americans just don't get it where for
5:40
Europe it's really about more like you
5:42
know you don't have this huge volume you
5:44
know of public behavior you know in the
5:46
US being friendly can mean being
5:47
enthusiastically chatty and and loud in
5:51
fact a lot of my Europeans friends say
5:52
"Oh Americans talk to everybody." You
5:54
know and in Europe they may not you you
5:57
know public spaces are for quieter more
5:59
reserved behavior you know talking
6:01
loudly or really loudly in a public
6:03
space or transport or cafe can you draw
6:06
annoyed stairs they may you know people
6:08
may not like that they they believe that
6:10
it should be more of a quiet and you
6:12
know people should have some more
6:14
decorum about them personal space can be
6:17
a big thing in Northern Europe you know
6:19
standing too close to someone or jumping
6:21
in a conversation i actually have a
6:23
little bit of a harder time with this
6:24
especially here in Asia where you know
6:26
there could be no personal space
6:27
especially like when I'm getting on an
6:29
airplane and you know I've got somebody
6:31
behind me who's just right at my heel it
6:34
just annoys me to no end i just feel
6:36
like just don't push me you know and you
6:40
know I think maybe that could be my
6:42
northern European you know sort of
6:44
thinking or upbringing that I've had
6:47
here you know in southern Europe like
6:48
Spain or Italy conversations may be more
6:51
animated and physical touches or pat on
6:53
the shoulder on the cheek could be
6:55
common also some eur um European
6:57
countries people value understatement
6:59
and you know and so it really depends
7:02
like even within Europe itself not
7:04
everything is the same throughout all
7:06
Europe the Middle East too is another
7:08
place where you know cultures and
7:10
hospitality is a nicity it's a core
7:12
value you know guests are treated with
7:14
immense respect refusing food or drink
7:17
too quickly can seem impolite you taking
7:21
time to share tea and engage in
7:22
conversation can be a way of building
7:25
trust and this can be really hard for
7:27
like especially for you know those of us
7:28
that are raised maybe you know in
7:30
American you know we may be impatient we
7:32
may sit there and say why do we have to
7:33
sit here and you know drink the tea or
7:35
other things you know we want to get
7:37
right to the point of the conversation
7:39
where you know in a lot of these other
7:41
cultures it's all about the pace of life
7:43
it's about the slowness of it all it's
7:45
about you know maybe getting to know you
7:47
a little bit building the trust before
7:49
you start in on a on a type of
7:51
conversation you know modesty and dress
7:53
and behavior can also be important you
7:55
know especially for women and you know
7:58
it's not just about pleasing behavior it
8:00
could be aligning with the local
8:01
expectations and showing cultural
8:02
awareness
8:04
latin America can be very different
8:06
there could be warmth you know time and
8:07
flexibility in countries like Latin
8:10
America social warmth is a norm expect
8:13
hugs you know kisses on your cheek they
8:15
can be very close to you during
8:17
conversation declining some of these
8:19
gestures come off as cold or unfriendly
8:22
time can be perceived a little bit
8:24
differently you know late doesn't always
8:26
mean the same thing a dinner invitation
8:27
at 700 p.m may not start until 8:30 if
8:31
you're too rigid or impatient could
8:34
cause friction you know you need to
8:36
understand that there can be some
8:36
rhythms that are taking place
8:40
africa has a great community and respect
8:42
for elders you know it's is you know
8:44
Africa as a n as a continent is you know
8:47
extremely diverse but you know values
8:49
and respect for elders are common
8:51
threads across many cultures on the
8:53
continent a place like Ghana or Kenya
8:56
greeting everyone when entering a room
8:57
or public space is customary you know
9:00
skipping greetings can be seen as rude
9:03
elders are often you know treated with
9:05
deference you know speaking to older
9:07
individuals requires politeness and
9:09
sometimes a more formal tone so you need
9:11
to really understand these things if
9:13
you're going into Africa you might ask
9:15
well why does all this matter why should
9:17
it matter if I just want to travel well
9:19
it goes back to what I said at the
9:20
beginning you know you know having
9:22
cultural literacy is the difference
9:24
between being just a tourist or being a
9:27
traveler who who actually gets it who
9:29
understands it who understands all of
9:31
these differences
9:34
i've written a blog post on this that
9:35
you know has some tips about this too if
9:37
you're going to be traveling you know
9:39
some different things that you can do to
9:40
make sure that you're not just a tourist
9:42
but you're a traveler who actually gets
9:44
it and understands it that you're a
9:45
traveler that travels with cultural
9:47
literacy and we'll put a description
9:50
below into the blog post which is
9:52
entitled why understanding local culture
9:54
is a secret to meaningful travel we hope
9:57
that when you travel that you will try
9:59
to be a traveler who gets it and not
10:02
just be a tourist but someone who
10:04
actually gets it and understands it that
10:07
you will be someone who strives to live
10:09
your life as a global citizen this is
10:12
Anita from the Dusty Road podcast thank
10:15
you so much for listening we hope that
10:16
you'll join with us to live your life as
10:19
a global citizen that you'll subscribe
10:21
to that podcast and be part of our
10:22
community thank you
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