my values have been influenced by previous trips

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I realised that travelling to various countries had made me observe my social conscience and develop what for me had become a healthy a set of values, in turn leading to a happier lifestyle. I realised that this started when I worked in France as part of my university degree. From the conditions stated in their work contracts I realised the French had a good set of social values as well as a good working code - one which maintained a balance between personal rights and the rights of the company. I now refuse to sign the optional opt out form 'the 40 hours maximum working hour week' set by European law, which often UK employers force employees to sign in the UK. After studying about the many French revolutions which took place during France's history and the extent to which people fought to achieve equality, liberty and fraternity, I maintained that in my professional life I would not be exploited. I had workers rights. I learned also that French employment laws leave room for family life and long enough lunch hours to eat a proper lunch rather than leaving just enough time to grab a take away like they do in the UK. Nowadays it is one of my big requirements from a job, that the lunch break allows me t eat properly or in some countries leave me enough time to go and eat at home

It was after living and working in Spain during the economic crisis, seeing people queueing up at food banks who before the credit crunch had had professional jobs. In knew also that some of my students' families were in danger of losing their home all of a sudden, simply because they couldn't pay the mortgage because they had lost their job. This made me grateful for the 1,000 euros a month I was earning and the fact that I could speak English and French and that therefore this gave me the flexibility to move to another country with a better economy if times got hard, which eventually I did. I saw that most people were renting (as opposed to buying) flats in Madrid, and living perfectly comfortable lives apart from the occasional disturbance of having to move into a smaller flat or in some cases a smaller room if they had financial difficulties. I compared their situation to those people who had bought houses and realised that with the economic crisis house owners who hadn't paid off their mortgages and hadn't got jobs to pay it off were no better off than renters. The worst affected were those with very young children, who still had to pay their mortgage and had found one or both parents were out of work but couldn't move to another country due to language ability or family commitments. In the UK people tend to buy houses but their quality of life seemed no better than those in Spain, they had more money but more commitments. The people who survived the economic crisis best were those who were light on their feet and could flee to better circumstances. On the other hand a house would stop people being able to do this when buying and selling ceased in the crisis. Becoming a house owner was something I didn't want, whilst renting on the other hand was a safer, flexible option and I soon came to realise that the less money you deal with, the less choices you have to make but the quicker you can recover from financial loss. Now I don't consider buying a car or house to be a possibility for me.

It was also during my life in Spain where I began to admire the simple daily life which Spanish people would live. Rather than buying from supermarkets people would shop in local family owned shops. A daily trip would include a trip to the fishmongers, the butchers, the bakery, the fruteria and the delicatessen. I enjoyed chatting to local neighbours whilst doing my shopping, I loved knowing that my money was going to local people, I would get the local gossip, I always got the freshest food possible which was not only cheaper but tasted much better than supermarket food and most importantly, the daily shopping trips were becoming a pleasure and a source of healthy excitement which was made up of comparing the colours, shapes, prices, types and origins of food. Food shopping was no longer a chore and before I knew it I would be spending the week looking forward to market day.

When I lived with a Turkish family for one month (a Turkish mother and a Turkish Grandmother) whilst studying Turkish at university in Izmir, I fell in love with the food, and again as I was supposed to behave like a Turkish daughter I would go with Nevin to the local market where she would bargain. I still sometimes today eat a typical Turkish breakfast - bread soaked in olive oil, cheese, tomatoes and olives. This was a tradition I wanted to continue. Whilst in the role of a Turkish daughter I also met serveral Turkish girls my age, relations of the family I was staying with. I saw from this, what it was like to be a woman in Turkey, and how much influence the family had over their whole lives. I also saw how the Muslim faith was closing off opportunities to women - opportunities that I had taken for granted. I wasn’t supposed to walk in the street unaccompanied, especially without a man as in that culture women don't tend to walk alone. I realised I had the chance in UK society to make my own choices and not be ruled by my family, in effect I could be my own person. From that moment I remained grateful for having the opportunities and freedom that most women automatically inherit in UK society, I now take these opportunities and make the most of my freedom, - travelling being one good example. I will not be deterred and any family member who tries to control me will be sorely disappointed.

It was in Costa Rica in the jungle and when working with the indigenous community that I began to have an environmental conscience and developed a love of nature and greenery. When I realised how few physical comforts human beings needed to survive and also how incredibly important working as part of a community is. In Thailand I certainly learned what good food was, I enjoyed eating food which had been made fresh and in front of me. The peaceful Buddhist-influenced aspects of society washed over me, leaving me feeling grateful for everything that happened to me. I also learned much more about eastern and spiritual health practices and incorporated them into my present daily routine. After my trip to Japan when I saw how the Japanese take pride in everything they do, (they especially take pride in their jobs giving the absolute maximum. Nowadays when on occasions I get fed up with my job, I try and make the feeling pass by developing a pride in it and doing the best I can in that present moment. In Japan I also learned that a society is more pleasant when everybody in the society does their best to help everybody else in the society. This in turn lets a river of harmony and cooperation flow . The Buddhist peace which I borrowed from the East for two months, never left me and when I see violence in South America I look inside myself to regain that Buddhist peace.

But the one thing I took from all these experiences was that what we need and want in Western society are often too different matters, or at least they were for me. For example, there were plenty of things which I owned that I wanted but I didn’t need and which could serve somebody else better who actually really needed it. Now if I have extra of what I need (things, money, emotional energy, time) I recognise it and I try to give it to others whose quality of life will be improved because of it. After travelling I realise that we are all human beings living in this world together, and that society is much bigger than a neighbourhood, a city, a country, or even a continent. One person's actions taken here in the UK could have consequences on somebody on the other side of the world because we all belong to the same community.

What have we got if we can't work together with our neighbour to try and bring about equality throughout the human race?

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