What is cultural awareness, and why is it crucial when we travel? Georgetown University’s National Center for Cultural Competence defines cultural awareness as the “understanding of how people acquire their cultures and culture’s important role in personal identities, ways of life, mental and physical health of an individual or a community.” In simpler terms, cultural awareness is about understanding people’s ways of life, the origin of their beliefs, and societal structure without using judgment or biases. This understanding is vital, as it helps create a community of mutual understanding in every aspect of our society. Cultural awareness has a place in our daily lives, whether it is understanding the backgrounds of our colleagues, friends, students, or even ourselves. As the travel industry is booming and more and more people are interconnecting and moving to other countries for studies, work, or leisure, we must discuss the importance of having cultural awareness in the traveling space. 

Personal Anecdote

When I think of cultural awareness, I have flashbacks of the time people mislabeled me because they did not understand why I did not embody whatever identity they had biases toward. I was born in Africa. I lived in the United States most of my life, but being raised in a traditional African household felt as if I was still in Africa. Navigating between these two cultures caused a clash in the U.S. and when I started traveling abroad. I remember my first instance of feeling like an American when I traveled to China for the first time. Having my American passport and introducing myself as an American was the first time I embodied American culture. 

When I went to France and spoke French with a French tonality, a French person asked me if I was genuinely American because Americans don’t have that French accent. In Belgium, when I told the bank teller that I knew how to say some Belgian terms because I am an American of Congolese descent, she automatically understood my historical identity and relationship to hers. Although I’ve struggled to find a place to belong because of others’ lack of cultural awareness of what it’s like to be a child immigrant, navigating different cultures and not having an either/or mindset, being able to practice cultural awareness towards myself has allowed me to understand my life, my feelings and it has helped me as a traveler abroad build authentic relationships and finding communities. 

This Blog + Cultural Awareness

My experience navigating the travel space as a young black woman, a college student, and an American of Congolese descent propelled me to create this blog, offering travel advice with an understanding of cultural awareness. When I want to talk about a particular topic or want to give you advice on what to do and where to go, I must understand that, as my readers, you may come from a different country or culture where a specific activity is not part of your cultural norm. Although this blog was created to help young American students hoping to study or live abroad, I have people from different countries who consume my content. Therefore, as a creator, I tailor the content to be generalizable. As a reader, when reading a blog post, you must understand the perspective from which I am speaking. You must consider “Who is speaking, what positionality are they speaking from, and can I objectively or subjectively apply it to my experience?” Doing this exercise on both ends allows us to create a community with mutual understanding where we can create intercultural exchange. The same philosophy should apply in the travel place. You must practice cultural awareness whenever you seek to travel, whether domestically or internationally. This post will give international travel tips for practicing cultural awareness because we live in a more globalized society. To negate the negative experiences of the past, we must focus on being culturally aware travelers. Before diving into the six ways to be a culturally aware traveler, let’s discuss globalization. 

Globalization Reimagined

The term “globalization” has peaked in recent years with the rise of social media, e-commerce, and mass migration. Politically, people have been thinking about whether Globalization is a good or bad thing, as we have seen geopolitical tensions and populist movements that have turned the world’s democracies to the right. I would argue that although there has been more interconnectedness in recent decades, the interdependence of goods and economies (aka globalization) has always been around. Granted, the mode of transportation did not easily allow people to trade around the world back in the day, but locally and regionally, people have been sharing ideas, products, and customs. With new technologies, social media, movies, and films, humans have just expanded on what they were already doing. As travel enthusiasts, learning or seeing a place on TV or social media piqued our interest in going to a particular place. The internet gives us information on how to plan our international travels effectively. Yet, some of us from the Global North or the West think of practicing globalization as a way for others to be more like us instead of learning and understanding others’ cultures. This mindset of thinking to make others like us has a name, and it is called “colonization” or, better yet, “neo-colonization.” 

Although more significant geopolitical acts are related to this idea of colonialistic globalization, some travelers practice what I will label “micro-colonialistic globalization.” We travel to different places worldwide with our blinders and biases, unable to learn and exchange ideas. We use terms such as “backward,” “sketchy,” or  “exotic” to describe foreign experiences without understanding the impact they have on the communities we travel to. Unfortunately, this is not just a Global North vs. Global South debate because, based on different positionalities, we may face this level of “micro-colonialistic globalization.” Here, the term “colonialistic” has nothing to do with Black vs White or White vs. Asia. Here, the term looks at privileged positionality vs. unprivileged positionality, which means local vs foreigner, American vs European, European vs South American, and so on. 

For example, As a young Black African woman and an American international student, I witnessed cultural dissonance from locals towards my diverse identities, and I witnessed travelers have cultural dissonance towards locals. In France, a professor would pick on me to embarrass me in front of the class because I was an American, and we did things that they did not do. In Belgium, my white American comrade busted out laughing when a girl we met on the elevator told her she was from Eritrea; thinking the girl was lying to her because, in her words, “I know there is not a country with that name.” Because of that experience, we carried the label of “dumb Americans.” Therefore, as your travel advisor, this post is to offer you the best travel tips to ensure you have a fruitful travel experience by providing you are a culturally aware traveler. Here are the six ways to be a culturally aware traveler. 

Six Ways to Be a Culturally Aware Traveler

1. Understanding the Local Culture

The first way to ensure you are a culturally aware traveler is to learn and understand the local culture. As a traveler, you can never leave your house, city, or country to go to another country without knowing about the local culture of your destination. Regardless of the duration or purpose of your trip, you have to understand the local culture of where you are going. A previous post discussed why you should learn about where you are going. The onus is learning and understanding the root of the cultures you try to integrate. Understanding the root of certain things and the way they are in a specific country helps you reach your destination without prejudice about what might come. 

Before going to China, France, and Belgium, I had to participate in a cultural pre-departure orientation to understand the culture of where I would study abroad. Universities’ international offices and programs like Fulbright conduct those pre-departure orientations to mitigate cultural shock. The purpose was not solely to learn about these different countries. They wanted us to be culturally aware because, as foreigners, the onus is on us to understand the environment where we would be calling home. Doing this ensured I understood essential customs, such as the French having strikes more often than in the United States. When I went to China and saw license plates on highway billboards, I realized it was the license plates of drivers who did not obey the law, and the government was shaming them. I was not too surprised because I was aware of government shaming before going to China. Hence, to be a culturally aware traveler, you must understand the local culture, ensuring that you become a global citizen. 

2. Understanding Biases Towards the Local Culture

Secondly, to be a culturally aware traveler, you must understand biases towards the local culture. Being biased is innate in us as human beings. We inevitably have thoughts on certain places based on information gathered through research and current events. As travelers, we demonstrate our biases when choosing certain countries over others because of what we think of certain places. However, as the trend has shown how cool it is to go to Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world, which most travelers may not have considered before, we must be aware of our biases toward local culture. 

Understanding biases towards local cultures allows us to be aware of our interactions with local communities or diverse communities we have not encountered. In the story I related earlier, my American counterpart laughed when we met a student from Eritrea because she did not know there was a country with that name. There was a time when she commented, “She speaks English well, but she is from Africa?” These interactions made both of us look bad, uneducated, and uncultured. I took the fall because we were close acquaintances. In these interactions, my American counterpart showed she did not know about African countries or that some African countries spoke English as their native language and administrative language. 

I often think of my trip to China in this regard. Going to China challenged me culturally as an African and an American. Growing up, I constantly heard people mimic Chinese words as sounds without meanings. I heard phrases like “Chinese eat weird stuff” and “they don’t like black people,” Before traveling, people would send me articles about the Red Market. As I was about to enter the plane, I received a notification about trafficking human organs, and I was ready to turn around and miss my adventure to Shanghai. Although I do not negate that there are things that give you pause, as a traveler, understanding that I had biases towards Chinese culture because of what I heard, read, and saw, I was careful with what I said when interacting with locals. My positive experiences redress certain biases and demonstrate that when we don’t acknowledge our biases towards certain people or cultures, we talk to them and condescendingly interact with them. Not understanding why we have certain biases makes us those travelers who go to other people’s countries and behave in a “White or Western Saviorism Complex,” treating people as if they are beneath us and should be glad we have decided to travel to their countries. 

3. Get Comfortable Being the Minority

Another way to be a culturally aware traveler is to get comfortable with being the minority. As a minority concerning race in America and my childhood immigrant status, when I travel, I understand that I am again a minority. However, in China, France, and Belgium, I was a minority as it related to race and my American nationality. My experience being a minority in America helps me integrate as a minority in foreign countries. Often, I witnessed the cultural shock of people who don’t know what it is like to be a minority and find themselves being treated as a minority group. Although one can say that my white American counterpart will benefit from whiteness in France or Belgium, her being an American foreigner without knowing French placed her in the minority category. Being a well-rounded traveler who knows how to speak French and having experience before moving to Belgium placed me at a higher advantage than a first-time white traveler without language skills. This shows that in the travel space, different factors will put you in the minority category; therefore, you need to be comfortable being a minority and navigate the new environment as a minority. 

Although many travel to have fun and experience great adventures, you may receive rude comments because locals may also have biases towards you. Since you are the minority, you may not have the proper channel to adjust to those biases. When in Greece, there was graffiti that stated, “Tourists go home, migrants are welcome,” and “Tourists have fun swimming in migrants’ graveyards.” These two statements were harsh for us as tourists, making most of us think twice about swimming in the Aegean Sea. Although some of us felt unwanted, we understood that there was nothing we could do since we were the minority. I and others saw those as a way to build awareness of the country’s migration problems because, as travelers, we tend to go to other places to escape the issues in our land, forgetting that the areas where we are traveling are also dealing with their problems. 

4. Be Curious without being Imposing

When interacting with local communities, being curious without being imposing is essential. Curiosity welcomes a place of learning and understanding. When asking questions from a curious standpoint, you show you are willing to learn from local perspectives. You demonstrate by your curiosity that you are open-minded and find value in learning from the locals. This is an excellent way to build a community, integrate, and redress some cultural biases you have about a specific place or culture. My mother always taught me, “Asking is not stealing. The smartest people in the world ask questions.” As humans, we are curious beings. We may see or hear things that intrigue our curiosity, provoking us to ask questions.

However, there is a way to ask a question to curb your curiosity without imposing your biases and prejudice. Here’s an example: I was cautious about trying different meals when we went to China because I heard they eat snakes and whatnot. Before every meal, I had to ask what it was, how it was cooked, what spices they used, etc. I was doing this to ensure I didn’t eat something I wasn’t too keen about. Before asking those questions, I would practice by myself to ensure the waitress did not pick up the fact that I was asking this because of my biases toward specific Chinese cuisines. One day, I decided to understand why some Chinese cuisines included a snake, horse meat, and whatnot. A local told me how some Chinese people came about eating certain meals because they experienced a famine, so they stopped being picky with foods and ate what they could find.  Learning this broke down the biases I had. Asking this question and getting the response out of my curiosity taught me I could not impose judgments when I did not understand the root of certain practices(going back to an earlier point.) I also learned that locals are happy to educate you when you show interest and genuine curiosity without having an imposing attitude and a set, unchangeable mind. This brings us to the next point about being open and having an open mindset.

5. Be Open

Any person who travels possesses the skill of open-mindedness. Open-mindedness is a skill that anyone who wants to travel must have. You must be open-minded about travel policies before, during, and after your travel journeys. You must abide by specific rules depending on the country you are traveling to. As an American, you may need to get a visa to or submit financial reports to certain countries and not to others. Going through the traveling process and abiding by laws and regulations requires you to be open-minded. You cannot want to go to a specific country and not want to abide by their laws because you must remember you are a foreigner. The onus is on you to Integrate and not on your local community to comply with the rules you are used to in your native land. 

During your stay, you should also practice openness. As a female, if you are traveling to a place where women wear a headscarf, your attitude shouldn’t be, “I come from a country where we don’t do that, so I won’t do it here either.” Such an attitude would make you a target, and you may get in trouble over something that you could have adjusted to. Hence, we detailed learning and understanding of the local culture so that you can build openness to the culture and cultural awareness before you embark on a travel journey. 

Before traveling to China, we had to get WeChat. This popular Chinese app combines the qualities of Venmo, Facebook, Instagram, and so on because the Chinese government has banned those social media apps. Therefore, as travelers, we knew we could not use these applications once we entered Chinese territory. That required a lot of open-mindedness from us regarding Chinese laws. Even when we thought about getting VPNs to curtail this rule, my classmates and I refrained from that idea because before traveling, we knew we could not use those apps. I had no issues not having those apps except for Gmail. I needed my Gmail to submit scholarship applications, so I used a VPN. Being in China and not using social media helped me build resistance to social media. It helped me create a culture of not using social media when traveling or posting everything I do in real-time. You will surely only enjoy your time abroad if you are open-minded about ideas, laws, and culture. 

6. Practice Cultural Exchange

Lastly, you must practice cultural exchange to be a culturally aware traveler. All the previous points on this list lead to this final point. Learning and understanding local cultures helps you see the similarities and differences between your culture and the local culture of your destination, giving you ideas on what you want to learn about and find a middle ground for compromise. When you understand and acknowledge the root of your biases, you become aware of your interactions and are careful not to approach people with the biases that precede you. Being curious without imposing demonstrates to the local community that you want to learn from them. It displays your openness to their culture and shows that you are not just there to take from them or enjoy attractions without understanding the people and the cultures that produced them. Many people go to Paris and enjoy Paris without knowing how Paris, a city that was once ruined, became a popular attraction. Some people go to Barcelona because of sports and do not know the foundation of that city or why it became a vital city. Who built Barcelona, for example? 

Considering all the points listed above allows you to practice cultural exchange because you are learning from the locals and, in return, allowing them to learn from you. As a black traveler, I realized that 9 out of 10 show interest in my country and culture when I show interest in other people I meet abroad. Teaching others about your culture will also allow them to redress their biases and learn about the diversity in America, for example. Some people view America and Americans as one thing. However, when they meet a black American, a woman, or an Immigrant who is traveling on behalf of their government, as I did through programs like Gilman and Fulbright, they get to learn about America they don’t know. Additionally, through someone with multiple identities like me, they get to learn about the diversity that exists in their communities. That’s the power of practicing cultural exchange and the beauty of being a culturally aware traveler. 

To conclude, a culturally aware traveler does not seek to assimilate into the culture of their destination. Instead, they integrate. Whether traveling for leisure, work, or studies, you must be culturally aware of your destination. Before traveling, you must understand the local culture and your biases toward certain cultures. You must know that as a traveler and a foreigner, you are a minority in the local community, and the onus is on you to abide by their laws and customs, and it is your job to seek integration. When interacting with locals, it is good to be curious. Curiosity shows more profound interest and the willingness to acquire information. You must be open and practice cultural exchange because your interactions will put you in the learning seat and create an environment of mutual information sharing. Doing all of these ensures that, as travelers, we build cultural awareness and a world of global citizens. 

Thank you for reading. Please like, share, and comment below on other culturally aware travel tips. You can also share your stories of interacting with different cultures when abroad. 

Until next time, have a great day! 

Xoxo, 

Cy!