Welcome to the Center for Global Awareness' latest program…

GLOBAL AWARENESS THRU TRAVEL with Dr. Denise R. Ames

seeing the world with new eyes

Are you a curious and engaged traveler who is seeking to enhance your global awareness through travel? Global Awareness Thru Travel (GATT) is a travel advisory service created by veteran educator Dr. Denise R. Ames that is designed to heighten our senses, broaden our perspectives, and highlight relationships through the magic of travel. She defines global awareness as a way of understanding the relationship of our own lives with all people and living beings throughout the world.

Global Awareness Thru Travel with Dr. Denise R. Ames is for …

…travelers who are seeking a deeper and more reflective travel experience, or travel companies that wish to do the same for their clients, Dr. Ames offers a comprehensive service to enhance global awareness. She does this through exploring five pathways—learning from the past, seeing five worldviews, understanding cross-cultural differences, investigating significant global issues, and enhancing our well-being. These pathways inspire travelers who are open to discovering all the wonders the world has to offer.

Enhancing global awareness is important for travelers …

From relaxing vacations on the beach to adventures testing one's physical limits, travel is as varied as the number of people who are experiencing its magic. Although many different forms of travel are perfectly acceptable, some travelers seek a more authentic and in-depth experience than most commercial travel offers. Dr. Ames has designed Global Awareness Thru Travel to enhance the experiences of these engaged travelers.

Dr. Ames's travel advisory service benefits …

travel companies, organizations, or individuals who wish to enhance their global awareness by implementing her content before or during travel. Her service is also ideal for travel schools, tour guide training, and any industry connected to travel. Her service may be adapted to small, medium, or large groups or training. Please email her for further information: drames@global-awareness.org

Five Pathways to Global Awareness thru Travel …

	1. Learning from the Past: A Holistic Story of the World The past has much to reveal to us if we listen closely and look deeply. This holistic, "big picture," easy-to-remember, approach to history organizes human development into five, critical turning points called waves—Communal, Agricultural, Urban, Modern, and Global. This approach draws on insights from our human past that aims to enhance our understanding and give greater meaning to the bewildering array of historical places and events we encounter on our travels.
	2. Five Worldviews: Different Ways We See the World Do you sometimes wonder if we will ever get along? Looking at issues through the lens of five worldviews—indigenous, traditional, progressive, globalized, and transformative—helps us arrive at a place of understanding our own and other people's perspectives without trying to change them. This awareness can shed light on our travel experience and contribute to bridging and healing deep divides.
	3. Cross-Cultural Awareness: Learning About and From Others Is everyone else weird and Americans normal, or vice versa? We grapple with this question by exploring cultural differences and human commonalities using Dr. Ames's cross-cultural organizer and listening to captivating stories. As intrepid travelers, it is important to dig below the surface culture and understand and appreciate people we encounter who are the same and also different from us.
	4. Global Issues: A Primer for Travelers The world is complex. Dr. Ames gives a general overview of five of the significant global issues travelers may encounter or want to know more about before or during their travels: environment (sustainability, energy, species extinction, water), global economy, political structures (war, conflict, foreign policy), social issues (migration, women, human rights, inequality), and belief systems (religion, animism, non-religious).
	5. Enhancing Well-being: Travel as a Personal Journey We usually think of travel as exploring the outer world, but actually it can be a valuable opportunity for inner exploration as well. I like to imagine travel as taking part in a mythic journey, a personal quest to deepen my insights about my inward life and my greater purpose in the outer world. You may want to imagine this as well! Going beyond our comfort zone to explore what is possible past its boundaries is a goal of the mythic journey. This journey may lead us to make peace with the world, appreciate the balance of all things, and bring back something to share with others at its completion.