How do my travels relate to history?
- I met family I didn’t even know existed and learned an excessive amount of family history through stories and photos. I had never met a family member from my Dad’s side and when I was in Scotland I met a bunch of family from his side!
- I walked on and through historical landsites. I saw views that many people will never see (West Highland Way), but also endured the blood, sweat, and tears that our ancestors would have experienced travelling these paths; due to the lack of transportation. This relation made me appreciate the strength and endurance of people who lived without roads and cars– it made me realize how truly lucky we are today to have the technologies we have.
- I participated in many Scottish weddings which gave me a better understanding of their culture, and experienced a traditional Roman-Catholic wedding in Germany. It was incredible to be able to compare the two experiences, and be able to conclude that Scotland is much rowdier than Germany.
- I lived in countries where I didn’t speak the language and experienced what it is like to be a minority. This was probably what it was probably like for people who came to Canada from Europe when the country was colonizing. I had learn to communicate without words and navigate around unknown towns relying on hard copy maps because we were unable to use our cellphones (tragic). This can all be compared to the past– navigation by map and learning to live in a country that it is not yours. I’m sure people took advantage of the language barriers and made us pay more for things, and this is probably the case in the past as well. I was told a story from one of my family members in Germany of my Oma; when she came over from Germany during WWII she took the CPR across Canada and didn’t realize that her train ticket was also her meal ticket– she went three days without food because she couldn’t communicate with the staff and ask where the food was. She spoke no English and this caused much trouble for her. Even when she met my Opa in Calgary they struggled to settle comfortably because neither of them spoke English, and during this time German’s were not looked at with sparkling eyes, thus impacting their comfort more.
- I overcame my misconception of historical monuments– they are not insignificant and boring; I now understand how sentimental historical monuments are and why people travel miles to see them. Being part of the culture and seeing how these people act made me understand monuments significance in more depth; the eiffel tower is more than a huge piece of architecture it is a piece of history that reminds French people of their history, culture, and what they are capable of doing. Monuments were not made in order to be tourist attractions; they are there to remind certain cultures of their past and remind them of their successes and sometimes mistakes.
“Somewhere on Parliament Hill in Ottawa…there should be erected a monument to this American ogre who has so often performed the function of saving us from drift and indecision.”
-Historian Frank Underhill
- I saw a lot of people who had almost nothing give Tori and I more than we could have ever given, not necessarily in money, but by their time, guidance, and genuine interest in our travels. It made me realize what I take for granted and how today Canada might be known as the ‘nicest country’ but I don’t truly think we are the nicest. I think we are very diverse and accepting, which certainly influences our stereotype, and as a nation we have a lot of freedom. We might be the nice guys who smile and constantly apologize, but this is minimal in terms of being nice. We do not have a history of accepting all people, we have done many unethical things towards groups such as Indigenous peoples, Chinese people, and Japanese– and today we mildly still outcast these cultures; for example, ‘Hong-couver,’ and judgement towards Indigenous cultures to be cheap and violent. These are still relevant today– so I ask two questions, why are we the nicest country? and is our apology and money given to these groups changing our perceptions at all towards them?
- This trip made me appreciate what European countries fought through and made me feel like I was living in it. Their narrow, rubble roads and old brick buildings made each town seem very old– a sight I was not used to seeing.
- This trip helped me understand how young Canada actually is. We are certainly very modern and free, and this was shown just by the difference in appearance of Europe and Canada as well as the culture. I also got a pretty good understanding of how huge Canada is, I never realized our size until I became accustomed to driving less than ten minutes to next city and realizing that I literally walked across in seven days; you can barely drive across Canada on seven days!
- I witnessed cultures that helped me to understand why people would want to come to Canada. Even in the 21st century I could find things that would make sense for peoples desire to leave. This trip was eye opening, answered many of my unknowns, and expanded my knowledge more than I thought possible!
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Post Devil’s Staircase on the West Highland Way
