ROSITA CAHYANI / NPM.

1970

Some people think that when a person travels into a different culture, they should adapt to
the local practices and customs. To what extent do you agree?

Nowadays many people are interested in traveling. There are some people who make it just
for a hobby or traveling become their lifestyle. According to Akadusyifa (2013) on his blog,
Traveling is an activity that people do by visiting a place for vacation. Usually a traveler
travels somewhere just not for a vacation only. Sometimes a traveler has another purpose,
which is to know more about the places they visit with many preparation. When people go
traveling to a different country, they must be find there are some different culture between
their own country and a country they visited. Because of that, should they adapt to the local
customs and practices when go traveling? This paper will discusses the benefit of adapt to the
local customs and practices for traveler when they are on their trip.

Firstly, become more open minded and respect for others culture. Adapting a new culture is
not easy. Especially the culture is very different from traveler own culture, every country has
a different culture. It is definitely make frustrated. According to Maria Abroad (2016)
experiences live in China, when people want to study aboard or travel for a long day
“adapting to a new culture is what should you did, you have to learn a lot of things from
scratch, understand the culture and most importantly: stop making assumptions”. When a
traveler has learning and can adapt to local customs and practices. A traveler will feels more
comfy on their trip and feels respected by the local people. For example in Indonesia,
Indonesian people have a customs and practices of being friendly to anyone. Even though
they don't know who that person is, but they still give a friendly smile for the traveler. For
foreigner tourists who have just come to Indonesia for the first time, they must be think that is
something strange and ignore their friendly attitude. For a local people who see the scene will
feel unappreciated by the traveler and feels offended, to avoid that incident happened. Then a
traveler should also try to accept and adapt to the customs of Indonesian people, so both of
parties will feel equally respected.

Secondly, minimize culture shock. People whose go traveling without many preparations,
definitely dealing with the name of culture shock. “Culture shock is a sense of confusion and
uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien
culture or environment without adequate preparation” (Merriam Webster, 2019). From its
name, the idea of culture shock certainly comes across as something travelers want to avoid.
Because of that when a traveler can adapt to the host country customs and practices; it can
minimize their culture shock. According to Mandi Schmitt (2015) tips how to deal with
culture shock on his blog, learn as much as possible about the country that traveler want to
visit is a good idea. Read some through travel forums, guide books, news reports, or talk to
people who have been there or else a people who are from there is really helpful for travelers
who want to get enjoyment on their trip. a traveler must get to know as much as they're can
about the host country culture and prepare self from some differences before a traveler
decided to go. For example some ramen restaurants in Japan which opened in the morning
don't provide a seat for visitors when they are eating; the visitors are standing while they are
eating the ramen on the table. For some traveler who doesn’t knew about this must be really
shock and for minimize that's culture shock they must learn about the Japanese people
customs.

The last benefit for travelers when they follow local customs and practices is to easily find a
hotel accommodation in cheap price for stays while on their trip, public transportation, and
also the destinations way for traveling.