An American With a Passion for Travel
About Cecelia Smith
Cecelia Smith is a mother and a grandmother from Pensacola, Florida. She has had lots of different experiences in her life, from growing up as the youngest child to raising two boys of her own. Being an American is an important part of her identity and she also loves to travel. She has had some interesting experiences being an American when in other countries, and they have helped to shape her into the person she is today.
Have you always felt the same way about being American or has it changed as you grew up?
“It's very important to be an American to me. America has so many more advantages than other countries as far as liberties and being free and being able to be yourself and who you want to be without sometimes being judged. It has basically felt the same to me. Some things have changed in terms of traveling, like highways have had some improvement, but as a citizen it has always been the same to me.”
Do you think being an American impacts the way you see the world, how?
“Yes, it [does]. Especially considering how privileged we are. For instance, you have to have a work visa to come over here [to the US] to work. People have to renew their visas every so often. I guess we have to have a visa to go over there too but we [have the] freedom to travel any and everywhere we want to go. People in some other countries don't have that liberty.
When abroad, are you proud to be an American? Why?
“I am very proud to be an American because some places that you go to are less fortunate and you know it's sad to see that. It makes you realize how much of a better life that you have here [in the US] versus there and some of the poor countries where there's a lot of starving families that are struggling to find jobs and to live the same way we do in the United States.”
When traveling have you ever noticed that being an American has put you in a position of privilege, or the opposite have you ever been discriminated against?
“I have and that experience was in France. We were in line to visit the Eiffel Tower and because my sisters and I really didn't understand the currency we were trying to figure that out so when we got to the to make our payment to get out tickets to go up to the Eiffel Tower the person there was really ugly to us and she slammed the door in my face and ask for police to come and escort us out of the line. So yes I felt that bad experience but that's that's the only bad experience I've had. Otherwise, typically when we travel we know when you are going to places of service restaurants retail stores things like that I find that most of the people there can speak a little English, so they're really nice to you and sometimes like in Mexico especially they would have their younger kids around to help them translate the language.”
“It's awesome to be in America. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave. It's different when you go to different countries. We are very fortunate.”
-Cecelia Smith
Do you have any advice for your younger self?
“Yes I wish I had traveled a lot more, had been more adventurous like one of my sisters Claudia. She did a lot of traveling when she was young and she went all over Europe and I just wish I had more courage to step outside my comfort zone and go other places,whether it was through the school system or with my parents.”
“I like to travel and I've only traveled to two continents, so in the future I would like to expand my horizons.”
