well-traveled
What does it mean to be well-traveled? Is it the distance and miles racked up or is it the number of places visited or is it something else altogether?
If a person has a lot of stamps in their passport, they are considered to be well-traveled. And if a person has been to all 50 states in the U.S. (and bonus points if they also go to all 13 U.S. territories) then I would say they are also well-traveled.
But what if someone zips into and out of a country or state briefly (an hour or just a day, for example)? How much did they actually see and experience? Technically I've been in Belgium (driving through) and Japan (flying through), but I wouldn't say that I've experienced either. So if someone does that dipping in and out of places a lot in order to increase their travel statistics, how well traveled are they?
I am reminded of Mr. Obnoxious, who had visited at least 100 countries, yet had zero cultural awareness, such as not photographing or videotaping people without their permission, and displayed very little interest or curiosity in learning about local history and culture, only an interest in collecting photos and videos.
On the other hand, I've lived in Virginia my entire half-century of life, yet only a few years ago did I manage to visit the Eastern Shore for the first time ever. In fact, there are 95 counties in Virginia and I estimate that I've been in, at most, 50-60 of them. On the other hand, I know someone who has never been out of the country and who never flies anywhere, but has been all over Virginia and knows our home state far better than I do.
So is it breadth or is it depth or something else? What do you think?
I think you’re right in that experiencing a place is more than just having a layover - though Incheon in Seoul seems a pretty solid representation of one element of their culture (e.g. an upscale mall that happens to have an airport 😏). But I haven’t scratched off South Korea or Japan nor a bunch if states on my map yet because passing through is not actually visiting: Get local foods, see people near their homes & at their jobs (or attending a comic convention 😀), feel the vibes, see at least one sunrise + sunset.
This is a really interesting question Jen. I need to ponder it some more. My first thought is that being physically present is important and then that I would lean more toward depth but I have definitely done breadth when I wanted to see as much as I could within a short time.