The Expert

WE all have our cultural biases. We can’t help it. We can only view things from our learned experi‐ence. But when we trav‐el, we expand those ex ‐periences and broaden our views ‐ perhaps changing how we see the world. And how oth‐ers see us.

I only understood that clearly when travelling in the Middle East in my 20s. A teenage girl was introduced to me at a luncheon. When she heard I was from Cali ‐fornia, she became ex ‐cited.

“Do you know Madonna?” she asked.

As if I, of the 38 mil ‐lion Americans residing in California, was the next ‐ door neighbour of Madonna. But now, liv‐ing in rural small ‐ town Galicia, I am experienc ‐ing something similar.

We are well‐travelled, especially in the US. I travelled for work a lot. And we travelled with our children for holidays to nearly every state in the union. So, I know a bit about each of them.

But the US is vast compared to countries in Europe. So big that there are varied cultural pockets where, while English is spoken, there are accents I can barely understand. But my fel‐low Gallegos don’t care.

It seems I am now the go ‐ to person to consult when anyone in the area is travelling to the

US. Mothers, brothers, cousins, friends. It does‐n’t matter. There will be a knock on my door. Someone I recognise will be there with some‐one I don’t recognise. Let the travel consulta ‐tion begin. I almost feel like a medium. Perhaps I should light candles or lay out some tarot cards.

“I see a tall, handsome stranger in your future trip to New York.”

I have begun recycling itineraries, and custom Google maps for these people. Finding I get ex‐cited about their adven‐tures. Remembering my own and doing my part to broaden their hori ‐zons, one Gallego at a time.