Some people have an opinion that it is unnecessary to travel abroad to explore other cultures because people can learn about them through devices accessing the Internet.
In my point view, I totally disagree with this statement cause I believe that practical experiences always have their own values which are only by traveling directly to the destination.
On the one hand, I accept that Internet technology gives many benefits to users. Thanks to the enhancement of technology in the network field, people can conveniently and effectively connect to everyone. For example, in the last decade, Internet technology such as YouTube or TikTok did not develop and spread over the world, so people who wanted to learn about other cultures from foreign countries were restricted from accessing a huge amount of knowledge compared to the current generation. Besides, traveling requires time and money which leads to difficulty for people who can not afford it. By contrast, with the utilization of laptops or smartphones, users can avoid traveling and accommodation costs, as well as time wastage, when researching different areas. In this way, Internet technology plays an important role in broadening people’s horizons about the outside world.
On the other hand, there is some knowledge from practical traveling experiences that cannot be taken place by watching videos on YouTube. First, visitors will have much more extraordinary feelings when they have directly been to places than watchers. It is understandable because viewers can only enjoy these scenes through their visual and hearing abilities whereas travelers devote themselves to living in their moments with full of senses. Additionally, I believe that to truly understand the lives of locals, there is no better way than traveling directly to the host country. This is because journeying provides a tangible way to immerse oneself in the daily routines of the local people living in a particular area. By contrast, if individuals solely rely on television or online videos to experience those activities, especially conventional festivals, they are unlikely to actively participate in these cultural activities with locals. Therefore, exploring new destinations through traveling can be regarded as the ultimate method to fully engage knowledge about the local cultures, customs, and traditions.
In conclusion, it seems to me that going abroad or watching videos on online social media has its own benefits and depends on one’s choice.