Visiting Tanzania for the first time to attend TEDGlobal

This week I’m in Arusha, Tanzania, attending the TEDGlobal conference. Travelling is one of those experiences which truly enriches your life. When you travel outside of your country you are stretching your own comfort zone.

Back in 2000, I spent 6 months working and living in the United Arab Emirates. That was a big culture shock for me coming from South Africa, a very westernised country in many respects. The Arab world is conservative, to say the least. The great thing about the UAE is the large population of expats from other countries who live there. And every time I met someone, it expanded my view of the world.

In most cases, we live such isolated lives. And travel is one of those activities which brings about a sense of personal growth like few other activities. And just by observation, you can learn more than you can from any book.

Travelling to Africa is a real experience for me because, again, I think in South Africa we have been spoiled to some extent. If you live in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban, you are living in a first-world experience. When you go into rural South Africa, it’s a completely different experience. But even that is a challenge which is worth undertaking.

If you are below 35, you may wanna consider the Contiki tours, which are dirt-cheap travel worldwide. This is something which is on my to-do list in the next two years. And if you are interested in following my experiences at the TEDGlobal conference, I will be blogging the presentations/speakers and conducting some video podcasts.