I'm thinking waffles....

If you were to Google the term "Cultural Intelligence," one of your first results would likely say something like this Wikipedia definition: "Cultural intelligence can be understood as the capability to relate and work effectively across cultures." Those who know me are well aware that I love traveling and understanding other cultures. What I am only recently articulating well is why I love it so much. This post is my effort to explain my passion for culture while using my experience in Belgium as an illustration.

Firstly, I agree with Thomas Jefferson in calling culture a "delightful occupation." There is some kind of existential joy involved in the discovery of new things; maybe it is simply the joy of learning by immersive experiences. I think those who are discontent with stagnation of the imagination and need ongoing creative stimulation would agree with me: enough is never enough.

As I made my way into Belgium, starting from our port in Zeebrugge, I saw things that stimulated imagination and learning for me. Our cruise ship shuttle to Blackenberg, a central city in the area, landed me in a public square with a double-decker carousel and audible pedestrian crossing signals. The street signs were all in Dutch and nothing like American street signs. The fashion featured in the shop windows and on the passers-by couldn't be described by words like "matching" or "going together," but it still worked somehow. Our subsequent bus ride into Brugge featured something I had never seen: many farms, each containing dozens of cows laying flat on their sides all across the pastures. It was so bizarre, but apparently normal. Florida has a huge cattle industry and I drive through cattle ranch towns all the time, but I've never seen as many cows strewn across a field as I did in Belgium. In Brugge, I saw architecture like I've never seen before, markets full of products that were totally foreign to me, and more chocolate shops than I have seen collectively over the course of my entire life. My perspective of the world had expanded in so many little ways, culminating in a broader picture of the word "normal."

The second reason I am passionate about culture is the implication of cultural intelligence for business. Admittedly, I do not always set out on an expedition for explicit research purposes, but I always walk away with a wealth of new perspective of global innovation and technology. Additionally, I see markets and trends for myself, not having to blindly accept outdated textbook descriptions. In Belgium, I saw with my own eyes that it's transportation infrastructure is outstanding - something that I learned was the result of the country's position as one of the first European countries to submit to an industrial revolution. We took a shuttle to a square where we walked to a bus, which took us to a town, where we walked around before making haste (a.k.a. running) to our train, which took us back to the square, to the shuttle, to the boat. Our boat docked in a very large industrial area with more import/export traffic actively taking place than any other port I had visited thus far. Dozens of ships were lined up to enter and exit the port at pretty much all times. I learned that agriculture, though seemingly prominent in the nation, does not constitute a significant portion of it's GDP, with service industries dominating by far. While I absolutely could have learned this information online, and did, in fact, confirm some of the facts online, I would not remember them like I do if I had not had the opportunity to see them and experience them in person.

I could go on about what I learned in Belgium about business and industry for a while, but in the interest of brevity, I'll move on to the third reason I love traveling: food. There simply is no substitute for authentic local food. I cannot emphasize this enough. Belgian waffles are absolutely everything they are cracked up to be. The waffles I consumed at the House of Waffles in Brugge, a restaurant highly recommended on several blogs I read, were so incredible. I could not stop with one waffle dish; I had a savory caprese waffle for lunch and a chocolate and strawberry one for dessert! Later we indulged in Belgian chocolates from a local chocolate maker who single-handedly ruined my taste for any other chocolate. Belgian towns smell wonderfully of chips (french fries) and fresh bread, making it one of the most tempting countries I have been to. I wish I had more time there simply because there were many other waffle dishes I didn't get to try.

Lastly (at least for this post), I love traveling for the people-to-people experiences. Very few things bring my heart more happiness than making a local laugh when I ask to pet their dog, saying "dank ja" to the Belgian man that gives me directions to the cathedral that I am looking for, or having a French teenager ask me (in French) to take a photo for her group. The unique smiles, interesting accents, and foreign languages never get old. When I travel, I am reminded of an intriguing and humbling quote by John Holmes: "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

To me, traveling is so much more than merely moving about this planet; It's about the joy of discovery, the satisfaction of immersive learning, indulgence in international flavors, and the fun of interpersonal interaction.

From: The Expeditioner