The Ultimate Guide: Exploring World Cultures and Traditions

Today, when we say that one should live their life, enjoy every aspect of life by going out, travelling to new places, and meeting new people, in the end, we always turn down such plans by thinking about where to go and what to explore.

At such times, as travellers, we advise you to go out while exploring world cultures and traditions because why not? It will not only take you to a new city but to new people, with different food, clothes, and many more factors that sum up their culture, but will also help you acknowledge a new part of the world. 

This world consists of around 195 countries with varied cultures and traditions that could tell a person a lot about their life, and you might not be aware of more than two or three places when there are so many places with different cultures and traditions. Moreover travelling doesn't mean going out with suitcases instead it is done to meet yourself while exploring the world, exploring your inner self, that's why one should be exploring world cultures and traditions once in their life, as it will benefit them a lot. 

Regarding the cultures and traditions to explore, you no longer need to think a lot because we have compiled a good list of countries for you to travel and explore the world.

What Is Culture and Tradition? 

We often hear from our elders that we should preserve our culture, follow our traditions strictly, and respect others' cultures and traditions, but why?

Culture and tradition are the backbone of society, which leads to how society builds up following beliefs, views, and thoughts; when we talk about these things, it sums up a society in which those cultures and traditions are practised by people living in that space. 

Every country follows certain beliefs that bring light to the country through which they get acknowledged globally, like India through its diverse culture, the US through its modern culture, and many more.  

Culture and tradition are the two poles of a society that make the place suitable for people to live in, as these terms are interchangeable and dependent on each other but different from each other.

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What is Culture? 

Anything that makes up the beliefs, thoughts, and idealogy of a place or people is culture. It is a process that is often asked to be upgraded timely depending upon the requirement as it is passed on from generation to generation. It guides other countries on how to look at each other when coming into contact. For example, in Asian countries, when communicating with elders, it's a culture to bow your head or join your hands while greeting elders to show respect. On the other hand, a tradition comes under the culture in which it is designed and celebrated according to the cultural beliefs practised in society.

What is Tradition? 

Tradition refers to specific events celebrated under different names all over the planet in various places on other days, like Holi in India and the Lotus Festival in South Korea. And we can only understand and live in such a society by exploring world cultures and traditions. 

Why Should One Be Exploring World Cultures and Traditions? 

Exploring the world is indeed exciting and insightful, but what could learning, engaging, and investing in exploring one's culture and tradition be? This world consists of several cities and countries where people come from various cultures and traditions. 

Benefits of Exploring World Cultures and Traditions  

As said earlier, exploring something interesting is indeed insightful; moreover, when it's related to someone's culture and tradition, it becomes more interesting and amusing; not only that, it also comes with various benefits, such as:

It helps in engaging with diverse cultures from all over the world.

Exploring world cultures and traditions helps an individual engage more with people from different areas, as it could help shape their intellectual thoughts while broadening their way of thinking and understanding.

It increases cultural awareness. 

Exploring cultures and traditions brings out the advantage of maximising cultural awareness towards a culture because it is through travelling only that one can find oneself engrossed on personal levels with their artistic practices and activities which prevail within a society, creating awareness in the mind of the traveller towards that particular society's culture and tradition.

Boosts personal growth and development. 

While exploring world cultures and traditions, we come across new terms, beliefs, and thoughts along with the way of expressing them while building up an individual's personality, growing out by being more informative and communicative while facing fear during such trips. 

Challenges in Exploring World Cultures and Traditions.  

When people dream about exploring world cultures and traditions, they also bump into various challenges that could stop them from exploring the world.

Communicational Gap: One of the challenges a person faces in such phases is the communication gap. Though one could be highly informative before visiting one's culture and traditions, it also demands knowing the place's whereabouts, language, diversity, cultures, traditions, and much more. 

Financial strain: To explore world culture and tradition, we need to take care of finances because it could create huge financial stress as it will take a good amount of money into consideration. 

Safety Concerns: Before going out to explore world cultures and traditions, safety is one of the most prominent challenges a person faces, specifically while gauging women's safety. While 

Different Cultures and Traditions in the World 

Each part of the world constitutes varied cultures and traditions that might or might not be known throughout the world. But to know about that, one must explore the world to know, learn, educate, and communicate widely with people by exploring world cultures and traditions.

Every culture contains unique customs and beliefs that enlighten the facts on how the world perceives people there, but not only this, what makes those cultures more empathetic is the traditions involved in it, making them more favoured globally. 

Here are different places where people explore world cultures and traditions.

La Tomatina - Spain 

La Tomatina is a well-known festival celebrated in cities in Spain, where a rush of crowd throws tomatoes at each other on this day, turning the road red and gathering huge attention towards the city during this time. In a festival that started in the 14th century, a man threw a tomato at others out of anger due to the pressure placed on him by others. La Tomatina is also called the "Spanish Tomato Festival." 

The Monkey Buffet Festival - Thailand 

In Thailand, a festival is celebrated every year to bring good luck and prosperity to the lives, i.e. The Monkey Buffet Festival, which is celebrated by inviting macaques (species of monkeys) to the vast feast prepared by the people of Lopburi, Thailand. The Monkey Buffet Festival is also known as the "Lopburi Monkey Festival." 

Red Brides, India 

Like various cultures in the world, in India, there's a vast culture celebrated throughout the country during wedding celebrations, in which Indian brides wear red-coloured lehengas at their weddings. In contrast, in all South Indian states, brides wear white sarees. 

Day of the Dead - Mexico 

For ages, we have been taught to respect the elders and keep remembering the dead. But to remember the dead, in Mexico, every year on the 1st and 2nd of November, a festival is celebrated all over Mexico in which people remember the dead family and friends and pray for their well-being after death, with the thought that the dead, visit their alive family on these two days. Concerning this, a Disney movie "Coco" was also released based on the festival "Day of the Dead." 

Red Enveloped - China 

In China, during the festival of "Chinese New Year," it is seen that elders give money to their younger ones in the family in red envelopes, symbolising good luck, prosperity, and well-wishes of the receiver of those red envelopes. Chinese New Year is celebrated at the start of the Chinese New Year, during the Springs in China. This festival is also known as "Spring Festival/ Lunar New Year."

Russian Novy God - Russia 

Russian Novy God is a festival celebrated on 1st January every year in Russia. It is celebrated just like Christmas, like exchanging gifts and wishes with family and friends.

Sinterklaas - Netherland 

It is celebrated every year on 5th December in the Netherlands, where it is celebrated just like Christmas, just without Santa Claus, replaced by an older man named Santaklaas who arrives on white horses instead of a reindeer sleigh. This festival is a tradition celebrated to remember the non-past history of the country. 

Hanami - Japan 

Hanami is a cultural festival celebrated as a tradition every year from the end week of March till the end of May. This is celebrated in the marking of the spring festival, where new cherry blossom tree grows all over the country, in which a culture is practised for ages, where families and friends go for picnics under those cherry blossom trees. It is celebrated to welcome a new year with good luck and prosperity.

ALSO READ: What 5 Unexpected Benefits Will Cultural Exploration Unlock for You? 

Conclusion

Throughout the year, here and there, various cultures and traditions are practised and celebrated with each other, be it Ireland or India. Every culture and tradition has its own story, and it can only be heard and understood when a person starts exploring world cultures and traditions while empathising with and being a part of them. 

No matter what era comes and passes by, these two terms or stands of the society could never be removed. We might encounter times when people point fingers at different cultures and traditions. One should understand why it's essential to keep one's culture and traditions updated while joining old and new trends together so that everyone can enjoy and understand them simultaneously. 

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