Originally from the United States, we have spent most of our youth living in Asia due to our parents’ work. At this point, we have traveled to 35 countries and have had countless opportunities to learn about the diversity of the world. Of course, we don’t remember every detail of every trip; we are only teenagers, after all. We do have journals to help us remember what we experienced, though. We once viewed these journals as nothing more than unnecessary, parent-assigned homework and even recorded these feelings in them (complete with hand-drawn angry face emojis). However, we can now go back and reflect on what we experienced, what was memorable, and why. As it turns out, our parents weren’t just being mean.
After spending a few years living back in the United States during COVID, we moved to Singapore last year. Being back in Asia has renewed our passion and appreciation for the unique cultural elements that we encounter on our travels. We decided to create this blog to share our observations from recent trips and experiences, as well as reflect on our journal entries and past travel observations. We are incredibly grateful for the cultural experiences that we have been given. However, the more we learn about world cultures, the more we realize how little we know. Shifting Lenses will share our firsthand cultural observations. We welcome you to join us on this learning journey.
