After traveling for a month throughout Africa and Asia, Jake Sexton was home in Minnesota for two weeks before he made his trek to Ecuador for a semester-long business program.

As an international economics and Spanish major, Sexton has traveled to more than 20 countries and plans to visit more.

“My biggest takeaway is perspective,” Sexton said. “It makes you more capable, you’re on your own, you become more independent and self sufficient.”

Sexton said he has always been interested in learning about the world, but he developed his love for traveling after he went with St. Thomas to Rome for a theology J-term course his first year of college.

Upon returning, Sexton continued to save his money for his next expedition to Africa and Asia for the following January. He did this all without telling his parents.

“My catch phrase as a toddler was ‘you’re not the boss of me’ to my parents,” Sexton said. “I have always been independent, but I have worked for it financially and because of that I have been able to do what I want to do.”

On this trip he visited South Africa, Qatar and Tanzania, where he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Out of all the places that he visited on this trip, his least favorite was Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Sexton thinks that Dubai is too industrialized and consumer-based, describing it as a cross between the Mall of America and Las Vegas. As someone who is more outdoorsy, he prefers to see the natural elements that each country has to offer.

“I love to just walk around and see everything around me,” Sexton said. “I like to do outdoor activities. It is easier and it saves a lot of money as a college student.”

After spending little time back home in Minnesota after his travels in January, Sexton made his way to Ecuador for the spring semester. Since his time there, he has stayed in the Amazon rainforest, visited the Andes mountains and went to Colombia for the second time during his spring break.

Overall, Sexton has enjoyed the experiences that he has had while traveling and has learned to be patient and flexible in any instance.

“Traveling makes you more capable. You are on your own and are forced to deal with certain situations you are not used to,” Sexton said.

Inconveniences such as a lack in hot water, Wi-Fi and delayed travel times have proven to Sexton that these are issues that do not matter in the grand scheme of day-to-day life.

“Traveling puts everything into perspective. If you were to get upset about everything that went wrong then you would never travel,” Sexton said. “ When you’re a college student on the cheap you have to roll with what happens and find the little things that go wrong funny.”

Traveling has not only provided Sexton with an eye for perspective, but it has also allowed him to learn social and professional traits for his future as well. International marketing professor Stephen Vuolo said that studying abroad is essential to understanding the world’s market.

“Understanding the culture is not only for the business people, it’s learning societal differences, how people shop and observing social media,” Vuolo said. “The more different the countries are from the United States, the more I think that the students should see.”

As Sexton is finishing up his semester in Ecuador he plans to visit Peru, Bolivia and Chile. He hopes to spend time in Minnesota for a while before he travels again.

Ava Diaz can be reached at diaz7981@stthomas.edu