"Understanding" the whole world is a quixotic quest. However, it's possible to understand a bit of the places you visit by meeting the locals and letting them s

"Understanding" the whole world is a quixotic quest. However, it's possible to understand a bit of the places you visit by meeting the locals and letting them show you their way of life. It may sound like baloney, but I have experienced that many times :-) Often one assumes that others have the same values and the same habits that one has. Meeting the locals in their "natural habitat" is a way of understanding the local values, the local culture. I do abhor that kind of traveling where you sit on the top deck of a bus and drive around a city while some dude with a mike points to touristic attractions. That stuff you can find on Wikipedia. The cool stuff is to meet locals who will welcome you to their houses so you can have dinner with their families, or show you the underground night scene that tourists never experience, or invite you for a weekend at their country / beach house. That's the good stuff.