Making Your Trip a Success

Most travelers experience some degree of culture shock. How much depends on each person’s personality, knowledge of the country, expectations, maturity, and previous travel experience. The following is a list of skills that have shown to be very important in making an overseas experience successful:

• Knowledge of the country, language and cultural aspects.
• Tolerance of ambiguity and the ability to cope with vagueness.
• Open-mindedness and the ability and willingness to accept diverse viewpoints.
• Low goal and task expectations. Do not expect to accomplish too much.
• Empathy. Try to see through the eyes of the local people.
• Nonjudgmental. Accept and try to understand differences between cultures.
• A sense of humor and the ability to laugh at yourself for your mistakes.
• Good communication skills with and interest in the local culture.
• Flexibility and the ability to change, adapting to new situations as they arise.
• Ability to fail, learning from your mistakes and ignorance.
• Accepting the responsibility to adapting and succeeding in the program.

U.S. Embassies and Consulates
http://usembassy.state.gov