On Travel and Working Abroad

A few months ago on the Operation Highlander blog, I posted my response to this article. In the mean time, I've collected some additional links on the topic that I wanted to post.

Buzzfeed: 11 Reasons You Should Travel Alone At Least Once: Most of my travel is done on my own, so I can identify with most of these. So, I suppose I agree: at least once, everyone should travel alone.

Mark Manson: Why Young Americans Should Work Overseas: I question some of the logic of Manson's article. What I can say, though, is that spending time overseas has been (mostly) beneficial for me. I spent over a year living and working in the Middle East, and it really changed my perception of a lot of things - both for better and for worse, but overall it gave me a better appreciation of why the world functions in the way it does. I've also spent the equivalent of about a year and a half of my life in the United Kingdom, and that time was beneficial as well. I'm reminded of a quote from General James Mattis, whom I met on several occasions:

"[No new technologies or weapons systems] would have helped me in the last three years [in Iraq and Afghanistan]. But I could have used cultural training [and] language training. I could have used more products from American universities [who] understood the world does not revolve around America and [who] embrace coalitions and allies for all of the strengths that they bring us."

I think there's a lot of truth to that statement (though there's a case to be made that coalitions and allies introduce a number of challenges as well, but that's another topic for another time). So, if you have the opportunity to spend some time overseas, either for leisure or for work, it's well worth considering, and probably worth actually doing.