As the comic is just as much about travel as it is about countries and languages, let me bomb you with all kinds of fun facts. Let's start with some traveling trivia. Did you know that traveling does not only help make new memories, but also makes you smarter? Turns out being in a different environment boosts your creativity and improves problem-solving skills! If you love to travel together with your soulmate, there's some benefits to that too, and if you don't, then you should consider doing it—couples that travel together report higher levels of intimacy with their partner. And traveling isn't just great for the soul, as it's shown that traveling strengthens cardiovascular health due to lowering your general stress levels.
The author has given an exclusive interview to Bored Panda and told about his colorful background, and, of course, the comics. "My background: I was born in Switzerland, moved to the USA when I was a baby, grew up in New Mexico, and went to film school in Los Angeles. After that, I lived in France, Morocco, Italy and now I'm in Berlin, Germany.
We always traveled as kids - so it's in my blood. As for language learning, I come from a multicultural family so there were always lots of languages around - but I never grew up speaking anything other than English. When I lived in France I started to learn French and all the troubles and hilarities that come with language learning - after that I was hooked!"
And now it's time for some facts about countries. Can you guess what's the most popular travel destination in the world? You might be surprised to learn that it's France, and if you guessed it—well, congrats! And what about the most visited city? It's Bangkok. If you love going abroad, but hate crowds, or people in general, Greenland's just the place for you: there are only 0.01 people per square mile, so you won't ever have to rub your elbows against someone. But perhaps Greenland's too big a destination; no problem, there's countries like Monaco or Vatican, which are even smaller than Central Park, though, of course, more crowded. And if you're an adventurer like I used to be before I took the arrow to the knee, maybe you're up to visit the world's tallest mountain, Everest? Trick question, because Mauna Kea in Hawaii is greater than that, the problem is that you'd have to rent scuba gear to see the rest of it.
"I've been to about 45 countries in the world. My favorites have been Amsterdam, Victoria Island, the southern islands off Thailand, and New Zealand. Next I want to go to Quebec, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. I've never seen that part of the world and I would love to."
And last but not least, here's some fun little linguistic facts about various tongues. While the point of language is to communicate between many people, English being the best one in that regard, some languages have less speakers than others. The Busuu language is reported to have been spoken by eight people in 1986 and by three people in 2005. Though some wouldn't agree that the USA is as diverse as it could be, it's one of the most diverse places in terms of language, over 300 languages are spoken there, and oddly enough, the US has no official language! But there's a caveat to this fact, and it's that very few of the languages originated in the melting pot of the world. Papua New Guinea holds the record for the most languages spoken: it has 841 languages, though many of them keep dying off since there's only one person speaking them.
The artist has also given a few traveling tips. "Travel advice: don't pack too much. If you end up with too little you can always buy more along the way. But chances are you won't need it. Travel light!"
He also gave his opinion, about what unites all of these different cultures, languages, and people. "You can be in the middle of rural nowhere Vietnam, and if a kid smiles at you and you smile back, you've just shared a unique and universal human communication."
Bored Panda has tons more to offer if you love traveling and learning about other countries. Let's start off by offering you some traveling tips by master traveler Ryan Fila. Can't find inspiration where to travel to? Perhaps the best travel photos nominated by AAP will inspire you for an experience, or this list of the world's most scenic destinations by Marta Kulesza. Want to learn why something makes a country unique? Perhaps Iceland or Brazil might entice you to do that. Perhaps globetrotting isn't your thing, but you love cultures and languages? Most of us speak English, but there's millions of things that native speakers find frustrating, which you'll find in this amusing post here. Enjoy!
