Passports, Priorties, and Palin

I was taken aback also by that comment from the VP candidate. My 16 yr old son was fortunate enough to travel Europe for a summer to perform music. Naturally, I was concerned about the expense. I have a good stable job, but we are NOT well off. We still had college $$$ ahead of us not to mention building an emergency fund. My co-workers said charge the trip, it is an investment in his future. We didn't charge the trip, but purchased clothes out of season and took other cost-saving measures. The families saved over a year sacrificed to make the trip happen because I told him that he could end up homeless, sleeping on park benches, but he would always have Europe. He's about to graduate from college now and speaks of meeting foreign students and being able to connect with them due to that experience. I can only image being in Paris for the 4th of July or seeing the Swiss Alps. But with through his photos and stories I have a better picture and maybe one day I too will see a foreign country and see how the other half of the world lives.

But you cannot be a world leader and not know what the world's experiences are. It reduces your capacity to empathize, sympathize, and encourage. 

you can't call your country the greatest in the world if you haven't compared it to others. 

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She could've taken a vacation to, say, the Far East as an adult.  Or flown to Costa Rica.  Or even taken a road trip across CANADA.  You know Canada, right?  That big country next door to Alaska?  

Sarah Palin was simply not interested in traveling to other countries.  Period.

I come from a middle-class, single-parent family.  I got a passport at 15 and had been to England, Bermuda, and France by the time I turned 21.  Palin is really reaching.

People who are really curious about the world will find a way to travel.  I grew up as a poor white girl in inner city Detroit, Michigan.  We weren't dirt poor, but we we're lower class.  This was in the fifties and sixties ( I'm almost sixty now).  As a girl, I would constantly read national geographic and such.  After struggling to put myself through college for a year and a half, I couldn't contain my itching feet.  I traveled the U.S. extensively for nearly two years, by all kinds of means including busses, trains, or hitching (though it wasn't considered safe for women).  I didn't have a single bad experience.  I would work seasonal or odd jobs for money.  I made my first crossing of the atlantic by cooking for a small crew aboard a boat.  I then proceed to travel the rest of the world. I've been to every continent, including a short stint in antartica.  I didn't stop until I was 43 years old. I am now happily settled back in the united states, and I don't regret a single moment of my travels.  It really puts a perspective on things.  Plus, I have a lot of stories to inspire and entertain my grandchildren.

 My point is that Gov. Palin's statement is unfounded.  Even those with only a couple dollars in their pockets can travel, if they want it enough.

Also, there's a difference between incuriosity about the world and not having the opportunity to travel. People who are curious about the world will either travel or educate themselves through other means such as books and newspapers. Palin seems genuinely incurious and she is trying to paint this as some sort of everywoman virtue.

Just had to add my two cents.  I've known people throughout my life that are passionate travelers, and it's not an issue of elitism, it is a true priority.  They scrimp and save every extra dime they have so they can take their trips.  It fulfills their need to explore the world.  One world traveler I know who's been to over 30 countries has worked for the post office his whole life, another is a teacher.

Once again, Palin is showing her troubling and narrow worldview by being so dismissive.

JC

http://www.storyrhyme.com/jcsblog

Oh no.

Now I have to admit, my next thought was "She went to university in Hawaii????  That's awesome! I wish I could have done that..."

Oh no.

Now I have to admit, my next thought was "She went to university in Hawaii????  That's awesome! I wish I could have done that..."

The thing I find wrong with her comment is not that she has not traveled, but that she felt that it was okay to put people down who had. Instead of saying "I wish I could have traveled more but I never felt like I had the money to do it," she made her snarky comment that contains the assumption that anyone who has traveled abroad was born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

As so many others have pointed out, different people have different priorities. There are plenty of families will buy expensive recreational toys (RVs, boats, etc) for use close to home but would not spend an equivalent amount on a foreign or long domestic trip. And plenty of people who are less well-off make travel happen by making great sacrifices.

 A lack of travel experience does not say anything about economic status, only about the choices one makes.

Yes, I agree with you. But you say you would 'love to travel' so you are already halfway there. It's the attitude to travel that is half the battle, though I do believe you gain a lot from the travel itself as well.

"a full understanding of how our country's economy is impacted by world events and vice versa."

I get so tired of trying to explain why I - a Canadian - would care about the US politics .....because of the global impact. 

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and the states...BUT I love LEARNING about the world.  I am educated enough to enjoy learning... and yes would love to travel...but again...it isn't a necessity......and a travelled person isn't necessarily better than a non traveled one..but it all depends on attitude and knowledge and a openess to understand we live on a very big planet. 

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Aah but does 'an open mind and the ability to imagine other countries that are not America nor want to be' predispose you to travel? Not all travelers have an open mind and an imagination and not all non-travelers lack the aforementioned but I would suggest there is some correlation.

I don't need to see far off places to understand how amazing America is and will continue to be.  

However, knowing the awesomeness of your own home is a completely different undertaking than  understanding the role America plays on the world stage.  Also, I would think that appreciating the wonder that is the US would be a minimum requirement for office. If you don't love the country, you've got no business running for office at all, but loving the country isn't, in and of itself, an immediate qualiifier for the job.

You love the US, I love the US. Are we qualiifed to be VP? 

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

America nor want to be is probably more important than a passport anyway. 

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@Tammy Not traveling the world does not make you a bad person but I believe it DOES make you less qualified for high office. It's the role of the president and VP to represent America's interests on the world stage and be a good global citizen. To do that they need a deep understanding of the world and America's place within it. Traveling your own country and developing an abiding love of home is a good thing but it should be AS WELL as seeing the world.

Just as important though is the type of travel... you probably don't learn much from going on a cruise or staying in an all-inclusive resort where everything is just like home. You need to be open to new experiences and approach travel and the people you meet with an open mind if you're actually going to learn anything from it.

Sarah Palin is not alone in not being widely traveled outside America but the fact is we ask more of our candidates for high office than we ask of the average person. It doesn't make you a bad person if you are not highly versed in economics or defense policy either, but I think we can all agree it's something presidential/VP candidates should know a bit about.

For the record, I LOVE the US. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Don't actaully want to live anywhere else in spite of - or perhaps because of - my extensive travels. Don't mistake my love of travel for a lack of patriotism, it's not so. 

Please note that no one has disparaged your right to support the governor, nor have they disparaged the idea of US based travel. That's another thing I love, traveling in the US. There's nothing like it, and I was pleased to host foreign guests this summer who would agree whole heartedly.

What I am arguing is that a world leader should have more than a passing curiousity in the world outside our borders. Palin's lack of interest in global issues over the course of her lifetime is a warning sign FOR ME in a time when globalization is an undeniable fact. 

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

It's about having a full understanding of how our country's economy is impacted by world events and vice versa. I've traveled across the States, but I've also lived abroad. It has nothing to do with having a lack of pride about my home country. 

Traveling outside of one's home country is a way to understand different points of views and to experience another perspective of the world. When I returned from my study abroad, I had a greater appreciation of the U.S., and frankly, that's not really something I'm sure I would have gained from only domestic travel. 

Also, I want my elected officials, particuarly those representing me on the national and global scale to have experiences with other cultures. That means travelling abroad so they can be knowledgeable and speak intelligently on a host of topics. Quite frankly, Gov. Palin has yet to prove to me she can do either lately.

A. L. Venable is a Random Citizen. She primarily writes at Dimple and a Smirk (dot) com ( http://www.dimpleandasmirk.com/ ) and Our PDX Network ( http://ourpdx.net ).

Why do you have to travel outside of America to receive a travel education?  What is so wrong with traveling inside this country and getting an education?  Oh wait that's right, it isn't hip or cool to be proud to be American or to love your country.  I got news for you folks, if you haven't traveled your own country extensively how on earth are you qualified to make judgments and comparisons with other countries?  Quite simply, you aren't.  

And you can demand all you want that leaders are well traveled, that is your right as an American.  It is also my right as an American to fully support Gov. Paiin and to be proud of her accomplishments and achievements. 

Tammy

The Happy Housewife in Arizona - join the revolution and put your family first :-)

http://stitchersflock.blogspot.com/

it is education! An education I demand my leaders in a global economy have.  I have never been wealthy, but travel has always been a priority--I have gone without cell phones, cable TV and a host of other middle class trappings in order to drag my kids to Morocco, Panama, Mexico, France and Germany.  And NONE of those trips cost me even half of what taking the crew to Disney World--stateside!!-- would have cost me. ( http://nakedanarchists.wordpress.com/ )

Sarah--my guess is the U of Idaho, or whichever one of your 5 colleges, had an exchange program.  You just chose to be a beauty queen instead.   

http://nakedanarchists.wordpress.com ( http://nakedanarchists.wordpress.com/ )

Hate to break it to you but a LOT of Americans haven't traveled the world nor do they want to do so.  I for one haven't and I am a well-educated individual.  I've traveled this country extensively.  When I was growing up, family vacations were in America.  My parents would toss my brother and I in the back of the car and for two weeks we would be "forced" into constant contact.  We saw amazing places like Pike's Peak, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore, and redwood trees taller than the sky.  It made me love my country and the vast diversity it holds.  It made me appreciate that we are privileged to live in a land where one state is so very different than another. 

I have since traveled outside of the country, Mexico and Canada.  If I travel elsewhere then that will be exciting and fun, but it isn't a high priority on my list.  I could care less if I see castles or pyramids.  I don't need to see far off places to understand how amazing America is and will continue to be. 

As I grew up and got married, I appreciated those family vacations even more because my husband never got to take vacations like we did.  His family couldn't afford it.  As a result, he has traveled to far off places like Australia and Fiji when he grew up but he lacks the deep and abiding love for this country that I grew up with.

So, sorry to tell you this but holding a passport and traveling the globe isn't a qualification for office.  It may or may not make you a better person or a more interesting person, but it does not qualify you for office.  

Tammy

The Happy Housewife in Arizona - join the revolution and put your family first :-)

First, Palin went to college in Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, but dropped out because she did not realize that Hilo is on the rainy side of the island. Then she went to Hawaii Pacific University on Oahu, where she dropped out because she didn't realize that it didn't get cold enough in the winter. Third up was North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, about 30 miles east of Spokane. Next up was University of Idaho, leading to a semester at Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer, Alaska. Finally, it was time to head back to University of Idaho to finish her degree. Six years in five towns and three states. Sounds like a lot of domestic travel to me. :)

(All information for this post was gleaned from the NY Daily News ( http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/0... ).)

Suzanne Reisman ( http://www.blogher.com/member/suzanne-reisman ), Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender ( http://blogher.org/topic/feminism-gender )
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Oh, Mini is right, of course, her "qualifications" are laughable. But for me, as a person devoted to travel, it's impossible to overlook her potshots at travelers as kids coddled by mommy and daddy. As though one had to grow up a Kennedy to make travel a priortiy. 

I'll be the first to admit this is the least of Palin's troubles. But in this case, she's going after my own. Also, I think it's important to express, as it was earlier, that TRAVEL IS FOR EVERYONE. I'm pretty sure Palin was calling out the classic gap year backpacker, but we are a lot more than that. As evidenced in this thread. Even that traveler comes in a lot of different flavors, I can't tell you how many flights I've been on with hoards of church groups. That seems like a culture Sarah Palin might well have been part of. 

It would have been nice if Ms. Palin had taken the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student, don't you think? 

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

Palin's excuse says a lot about how much she knows about ordinary American people.  Millions of just plain American folks, like me, read about the world, look for foreign friends to understand better what "other cultures" means, and sometimes even go live in other countries, just out of curiosity.  Ignorance of the breadth of American types and experience and ignorance of the world and how it works is dangerous for all of us, but especially if that ignorance lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or works for someone who does.

 After all, she just had to take a kayak across the Bering sea  as she is fond of telling us.

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LOL, Mini HAHA!

See that's how weapons of mass distraction works. Gets you off point and focused on shit that doesn't even matter. Who cares if Palin never travelled.  She is not worthy of being VP.  Her non travelling butt is just one of aluandry list of things I think make her UNQUALIFIED! 

Yes this is about class and gender and race and sexism and so what? that's what's on all OUR plates. We all have to contend with that stuff.  She doesn't get a pass, if anything she ought to be leading the charge. She ought to be smarter and the brightest of the bright.  She is not.  Not because she isn't well travelled. But because she isn't well read.

 Love, ( http://lovebabz@blogspot.com )

Babz ( http://lovebabz@blogspot.com )

Please excuse the misspelling....I meant the Philippines.

I think what's missing here is that even if Sarah Palin DID have a passport, and even if she DID travel to every country in the world, it still wouldn't make her VP material with "foreign policy" background.  Hell, I was born in Guam and lived in the Phillipines (Navy brat) and I've been to Canada and Mexico, but it doesn't mean that I'm qualified to be VP.  I truly believe that Tina Fey shows us all we need to know about Sarah Palin.

I have been to Canada (before the passport) I have been to a lot of states in the U.S never left the U.S. I would love to get to a lot of different places outside of the U.S but just cannot afford it.

I do get your point about Palin and not have traveled..and that brings up a very valid point. Thank you for that. I do think that the VP of this country should have a passport, and have traveled.

y'all don't have to go very far within your own country to get that cross-cultural thing happening.

This is so totally true. You can make the Great American Road Trip through all kinds of cultural diversity without ever leaving the lower 48. It's a big place. Also, you didn't always need a passport to travel through vast swaths of land - you could go into Mexico and Canada without a passport until recently. Hell, they speak a whole 'nother language in Quebec and that's right next door in Canada. 

We can go about a mile for some serious cross cultural stuff, down to the Mexcan/Cambodian/Somalian/wow is it a patch work of immigrants 'hood. It's awesome. 

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

But yes, I am from that travelling culture.  i was born to a family of perpetual immigrants - go back 3 generations and we made homes in India, Africa, North America - and here I am, born in Canada, living in Australia.  I took a year off from university to work as a nanny in the Caribbean.  That was an adventure, but not much of a holiday. 

I don't think Ms Palin needs to have extensive travel experience, but she is going to need to value cross-cultural experience.  Do you think she even understands that not all the US is just like Alaska?  I mean, y'all don't have to go very far within your own country to get that cross-cultural thing happening.

Palin reminds me so much of George Bush and this is one of the ways in which they are similar.

George Bush WAS born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He arguably is one of those people Palin refers to that could have traveled anywhere in the world on mommy and daddy's dime. He chose not to.

If I remember correctly George Bush never left the country until after college when his father took a trip to China and invited W along. When W was asked by reporters what he thought of his experince in China his response was the equivilent to a shrug of the shoulders.

I went to London at 18 after working hard a whole year to save for the trip. Anyone who wants to travel can, if it is their priority.

Fair enough, it's not Palin's priority but can you read a book once in a while? After the 9/11 attacks I knew I wouldn't  travel to the middle east, deeming it too dangerous, but I wanted to know more and ran out to buy Karen Armstrong's books about Islam and other religions. Sarah didn't. How do I know? Read her interview with Couric and look at her response when questioned about Hamas:

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/20... ( http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/20... )

Seems to me that Ms Palin could have saved the money from a moose rifle
and a snowmobile and bought herself an airline ticket--- if she really
wanted to, no?

Thank you for this. Hilarious. Genius. True. 

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

The love of travel crosses party lines and economic groups. Not sure what Palin meant in her comments about the type of people who travel the world. I grew up in a conservative home, but my parents knew the value of seeing the world and more importantly they even trusted me enough to do it by myself. At age fifteen my parents bought me a plane ticket to see my Norwegian pen pal and we traveled in Scandinavia for 2 weeks. An incredible experience. I love my parents more for giving me that gift. Now I'm all grown up and although my home with my kids is not the same as my parents--we support many liberal causes and politicians--my family loves to travel too. If I didn't have my young daughter along to decipher the subway maps in London or Paris, I'm sure I would get lost. --Chris

 Chris--MomathonBlog.com

I was 16, the daughter of poor blue collar factory workers who took out a loan for $700 from the factory credit union so that I could study in Europe with a school program in 1969 for 6 weeks. They scrimped and saved and went without so that I could do this -- so that I could see that the world was bigger than my backyard, and that cultures differed, and that as an American I was also part of a larger world. My aunt and uncle chipped in, and the neighbors gave me $100, and a cousin gave me $50. I was my family's ambassador, traveling when they could not, being their eyes, bringing back stories.

Then, after college, after professional changes,after divorce, I aimed for a job that included travel and spent over a decade traveling the world at the company's expense. I'd add on vacation time at my expense. Unless the poverty is abject, and there is way too much of that, some kind of travel can be done. You just have to want to -- you just have to decide it is a priority.

Sure, there are rich kids who get travel handed to them. And maybe they've seen places in the world that I have not -- but as a politician, should I scorn them and use them as an excuse? Seems to me that Ms Palin could have saved the money from a moose rifle and a snowmobile and bought herself an airline ticket--- if she really wanted to, no?

~~ Contributing Editor, Mata H. also blogs right along at Time's Fool ( http://timesfool.blogspot.com )

and look at the passport as some extravagant oddity.

I have always had a passport.  My kids now have passports..we will always get them renewed even if we are not planning a trip.

But I am from the UK..we all took having a passport for granted due to our closeness with so many other countries.  It was our ID.

And while traveling do not make you smarter..showing an interest in the world around you does.  SHE does not seem to be that type of person. 

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I confess, I received my first passport when I was an adult in my 20s. My family's idea of a big vacation when I was a kid was driving to my grandmother's house in the next state. Why? Money, or lack of it, was the chief reason, as was the difficulties of a single mom trying to corral three kids with minds of their own.

But this inability to travel as a child didn't dampen my enthusiasm for travel; in fact, it stoked it. I daydreamed about wandering about these exotic foreign places, eating new things, having adventures. One of the joys of my marriage has been the foreign travel I've done with my husband. To me, it deepens the appreciation of our global similarities and differences, and sharpens my self-awareness of avoiding being the "ugly American."

A politican who boasts about the lack of travel she has done is only perpetuating a shift towards isolationism. It's a dangerous position to take these days.

Thank you for sharing your story, Pam. I found Palin's comment deeply offensive as well. Vacations in my family involved stuffing my parents, grandparents, sister, and me into our rusted blue Cutlass, then driving four hours to a resort in Michigan filled with elderly Jews and mold. Yet, in college, when I had the good fortune to be offered a free trip to Italy one year and a free trip to Germany the next, I hesitated. My plan had been to work during the winter break, not gallivant on the Continent. My parents, who did not have passports themselves, were horrified. "You have to go," they told me. "We'll find a way to make it work. Who knows when you'll have other chances to travel?"

So I applied for my first passport at the age of 19, and I worked extra hard when I returned. Once I traveled to another country, I wanted to do it again and again. It absolutely influenced how I prioritized my spending. These days, I am lucky to not have to worry about money so much, and instead of living in a luxury condo or wearing designer clothes, I take that extra income and go places.

Deriding people who want to experience other places as spoiled and rich is a cheap way to appeal to the class divide that the Republicans so happily created in the first place. It bring us all down.

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