1 . There are so many interesting and different cultures around the world. Each comes with its own customs, traditions, and worldviews. Through travel, we’re able to broaden our minds by seeing how others live and think differently. Join us to take a look through some of the most unique and beautiful cultures in the world.

This native group live mainly in Northern Namibia in a semi-nomadic (半游牧的) lifestyle. Visually remarkable, with red skin and hair, fancy jewelry, and goat-hide clothing, this community is one of the most unique cultures found around the world. Their way of life is still preserved today, as they live in remote villages separate from the rest of Namibian society.

The Berbers are children of the pre-Arab population in North Africa, who lived across several countries but mainly settled in Morocco. They’re famous worldwide for their artistic heritage in pottery (陶器) and design. On our Best of Morocco tour, you’ll drink Berber tea with locals in a traditional Nomad house in Dades Valley.

Rajasthani culture is one of energy, beauty and civilization. Traditionally known as the ‘Land of Kings’, this part of India is rich and resourceful, attracting visitors worldwide with its magical architecture, joyous folk dances and impressive color scheme. On the Classical India with Nepal tour, you’ll visit one of Rajasthan’s famous colored cities -Jaipur, or ‘the pink city’.

The Bedouin people are desert-living nomadic people living in several countries in North Africa, the Middle Eastern deserts and Arabian peninsula. They are Arab-speaking and tribal, with a deep connection to the desert. Even their name, ‘Bedouin’, means ‘desert-dweller’. Have tea under the stars in the Jordanian desert with Bedouin locals on the Jordan Experience tour.

4 . What is the most shocking about the heatwave affecting the Pacific Northwest is not that it has hit a usually mild area, nor that so many long-standing temperature records are being broken. It is that those records are being broken by such large margins (幅度). In Portland, Oregon, temperature reached 46.6℃(116°F) — making it one of several cities in the region where former records have been beaten by a full 5℃(9°F). At the same time, heatwaves are also hitting central Europe and even Siberia.

Heatwaves may become headlines, but less attention is paid to them. In 2018 about 300,000 people over the age of 65 died as a result of extreme heat, mainly in India, a 54% increase since 2000, according to a report in the Lancet, a medical journal. The report also shows that, unlike storms and floods, heat does not lead to dramatic before-and-after pictures or widespread damage to belongings. It is a silent killer. As many as 70,000 people died due to a heatwave in Europe in 2003.

Heat also kills by worsening health conditions such as heart problems, so not all the deaths it causes may be directly attributed (归因) to it. Climate change will make heatwaves more common and more extreme. Even if greenhouse-gas emissions (排放) are cut to zero by the middle of this century, temperatures will go on rising for decades. So other measures are needed to protect people against extreme heat.

Governments can set up early warning systems to alarm health workers, shut down schools and stop outdoor activities. They can provide the public with forecasts of coming heatwaves, explanations of the dangers and detailed advice on what to do. Improved facilities can also help. This includes providing shaded areas, water parks and “misting stations” to help people cool down, and get to airconditioned “cooling centers” where they can find shelter and sleep if necessary.

The world is, undoubtedly, facing a big health challenge right now. There is no excuse for ignoring heatwaves and their effects.

5 . Kyra Peralte thought keeping a diary during the pandemic (流行病) might help her sort out her feelings. In April 2020, the mother of two in Montclair, New Jersey, now 46, started writing about the challenges of work, marriage and motherhood during a global crisis. She invited women from near and far to fill the notebook with their own pandemic tales.She named the project The Traveling Diary.

Peralte created a website for people to add their names to the queue. Each person gets to keep the diary for three days and fill as many pages as she wishes. Then she is responsible for mailing it to the next person, whose address Peralte provides. So far, more than 2, 000 women from 30 countries have joined in.

The diary reached Colleen Martin in Florham Park, New Jersey, in November 2020. “I had just recently lost my brother. By the time I actually got it and wrote in it, it was much more of a relief,” she says. Adding to the diary, she says, helped her look for meaning and “the growth and development that occurs in terrible times.”

Martin shipped off the diary to the next person, and Dior Sarr, 35, received it at her home in Toronto just before the new year. “I wrote about my ambitions(抱负), my goals and how I wanted to step into the new year, ” she says, “It felt meaningful to pass on something so personal. It felt like these were women that I had known even though I didn’t know them at all.”

Like many of the women who wrote in her diary, Peralte feels a strong bond with the people who filled its pages, none of whom she would have otherwise known. Her idea, Peralte says, has had a great effect on her and, she hopes, the other women who were part of it.

7 . As you get older, you’ll meet a wider range of people from diverse cultures. If you haven’t met many people from different backgrounds, it can be hard to know how to respect their culture.     1    

One of the best ways to understand other people’s cultures is to first consider your own. Most of us don’t realize that our customs and beliefs might seem strange to someone else. Don’t think of your own way of life as the only normal one and everyone else’s to be strange.     2    

Maybe you’ve recently met someone from a different culture, or you’re curious about how different people live. When you meet people from a different culture, ask them about their lives. Also, you can read books, watch movies or listen to radio shows.     3     The more you learn, the more likely you will get used to greeting cultural differences with curiosity rather than doubt.

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Differences between us are what make life so interesting, so just accept the differences between yourself and your friends from different cultures. The best way to respect people from other cultures is to strike a balance between curiosity and appreciation:     5    . Also, learn how to just silently observe and appreciate the differences that make us unique.