I have a US Passport; I aspire to have the one the YouTube couple has.

The young couple have a YouTube channel called Skint Northerners. From England, they have traveled the world, sharing videos of their immersions into cultures far and wide. My wife and I have enjoyed many of their clips of their treks through the United States. They choose small towns and independent venues to shop, drink or eat; no big box stores are part of their experiences and I love that.

Their passports must be amazing to look at with so many pages stamped by a multitude of countries around the world. They have another one that is not stamped and I aspire to have one like theirs.

First, a bit of background. As a young man, I fancied myself traveling the country as a writer and photographer, particularly touring the Southern US in a camper pick-up truck like John Steinbeck did. His effort resulted in a book, Travels with Charley, which was required reading for the freshman class of 1970-71 at Strake Jesuit in Houston. The book clearly influenced my desire that led to my shopping for such a truck less than a decade later. I never was able to fulfill my wanderlust and curiosity about the South, the roots of my heritage, as I envisioned, but I was able to create a book titled Discovering Mississippi, Discovering Myself: A journey four decades in the making later in life.

Back to the young couple…in their late 20s, they possess a curiosity that many have, and a “passport” that many have lost; they are respectful and courteous to everyone. While there are some instances when their honest curiosity about people and the world are not met with reciprocated respect and courtesy, in most episodes viewers see the couple welcomed into cultures…moments, hours or days at a time. When they encounter rudeness, which is infrequent, they simply leave the scene. No drama, no blame…they simply dust off their sandals, as it were, and move on.

Perhaps that is the value of their show. It is not just entertainment, but knowledge and wisdom acquired with a passport of respect and courtesy. It sounds like everyone could move about their own community better using the same.