Musings from afar – informative tales of travel at the University

“Let me quote St Augustine: ‘The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.’”

Tony Wheeler is discussing the merits of a well-travelled life. 

The publishing entrepreneur, businessman and co-founder of Lonely Planet knows the importance of travel and spoke about travel’s educational value to incoming students participating in an exchange or study abroad program at the University of Melbourne at their enrolment day in February.

Encouraging students to make the most of their study abroad experience Mr Wheeler says we travel purely because “it’s fun, that’s the first reason we travel. But more important, it’s a continuous education. Every trip I make I learn something new and very often it will be the most important thing I learn that year. Plus it’s the way we meet people, the way people from one place interact with people from another,” he says.

Travel has many positive effects on a young person with exposure to new cultures and world views displaying how learning extends beyond the classroom when we get out of our comfort zone.

“The lesson I learn over and over again is not to have your perceptions and understandings of foreign cultures dictated to you by media or governments. Go and see it yourself. You’ll often come away with a totally different opinion,” he says. 

The value of travel in education is illustrated by the University’s efforts to create international study opportunities for students and facilitating study opportunities for incoming students participating in an exchange or study abroad program in return. 

Student Mobility Program Manager Stuart Hibberd says there has been a deliberate effort to encourage students to partake in these study abroad opportunities as part of an increasingly globally-focused curriculum.

“Generally speaking, the shift to the Melbourne Curriculum has brought with it a concerted effort to change a mindset and increase mobility of students at every level,” he says.

Mr Hibberd believes students who participate in an exchange or study abroad program have opportunities they would not necessarily receive at home such as “listening to Gorbachev speak in Paris at the apex of his career; getting an internship with the UNHCR; or just being able to travel every weekend to different countries for a minute cost. Nearly all gain tremendous self-confidence.” 

Travel is a topic that is also gaining increasing academic attention as writers share their personal narratives of discovering new places.

The Australian Festival of Travel Writing will be held in Melbourne, 22 – 24 March and provides an engaging forum to discuss the ethics of travel and the art of travel writing. The festival this year aims to engage even more students with interactive activities like debates, competitions and a new Travel Confessional Booth. 

The University of Melbourne has supported the festival from its inception in 2008. Associate Professor Jacqueline Dutton, the festival’s Director (Associate Dean Engagement Faculty of Arts), believes the festival has received such a positive reception because “travel is a subject that people feel passionate about”.

Associate Professor Dutton also says that “Many of our academics and postgraduate students have participated in the intellectually stimulating program alongside great writers like Robert Dessaix, Michelle de Kretser, Tom Swick and Alain Mabanckou; we’ve had incredible uptake from student volunteers to help run events on the day, and of course the University venues give the festival a home in the heart of Melbourne.”

This year’s festival will uncover the wonders and delights of crossing borders, challenging perceptions about other peoples, places, and politics, exploring the art and ethics of travel, revealing industry secrets and providing great insights into research and writing travel narratives. 

Panels and workshops at the festival will discuss the dilemmas confronting the travel writer in the 21st century. Themes to be explored include the travel memoir, gourmet travel writing and the art and ethics of travel. In particular, a debate on the ethics of travelling today will question “how we can engage with and report on travel in meaningful and ethical ways when social media promotes frequent and bold styles of travel, hidden tourist heavens go viral, the climate is changing and native culture is altered and streamlined in a globalised world,” Associate Professor Dutton says. 

Featured writers who will speak at the event include Brian Thacker on travel around South-East Asia on a shoestring, Olivier Magny on gourmet travel writing, Xu Zhiyuan on the new trends of travelling in China, and Rolf Potts on ethical travelling as a lifestyle choice.

Tony Wheeler will also play a supporting role at the festival, and will be “telling tall tales at the opening evening,” as well as participating in a variety of panels on varied topics, including travel in Burma, the ‘destination of the moment’. 

As well as being a way to deepen understanding of a different culture, travel allows students and writers alike to be creative and develop their potential in different ways than can be explored at home, “Recent scholarship has also pointed to travel as a trigger for creativity, demonstrating that our minds are more receptive and open to a wider range of alternatives when we’re travelling or thinking about travel,” Associate Professor Dutton says. This is something students travelling and studying around the world can attest to. 

The festival will be launched at the Sidney Myer Asia Centre at the University of Melbourne, Friday 22 March at 6.15pm, hosted by Michael Williams, Director of the Wheeler Centre. 

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