Why Travel?
Answers to some FAQ's...
Deep thoughts and personal ramblings on pre-departure panic attacks.
May 10, 1998
I suppose that this is the beginning of what I hope will become a long tale of adventures in far away places.
For years, I have longed to travel. Anywhere and everywhere! "But, you can't just take off and travel," I was told. "It's too expensive. It's too dangerous. And it's simply not practical." Yes, yes...of course, you're right. And so I stayed "home." Safe and sound. With an incurable and desperate case of wanderlust. Now I am 28 years old. I am a school teacher at an inner city school. Some of my kids have never left this city and few have gone outside the bounds of our state. Having seen a few states myself, crossed the border into Canada and Mexico, and having been to Australia once, I am fortunate to have seen more of this world than some, but there's so much more I yearn to see.
And so, I will set forth this summer determined to see as much of this world as I can in this lifetime. Before it passes me by. I long to see it simply for what it is; it's beauty and it's horrors; it's grandeur and it's ugliness; for all that it is and all that it might be.
I believe traveling is important. It is, without a doubt, highly educational. It stirs the soul and moves the spirit. It awakens senses long numbed by our hyper-active, over-stimulated society. It is powerful, awe-inspiring and humbling. It is enriching beyond your wildest expectations. And, for me, it has become a driving force and inspiration; something to be achieved while I am still young enough to hike the Himalayas and trek through a jungle and dive the oceans of the world, not just see these things through the window of a passing bus.
I have less than 2 months left in my safe and comfortable routine. I find myself on the verge of panic occasionally and it is then that I have to remind myself why I am doing this. Life is for living.
Still in need of inspiration?
Read on...
I never regretted any trip I took, no matter how inconvenient, expensive or unnecessary it seemed at the planning stage;
I only regretted the trips I didn't take.
Carol Benet, PhD 57
A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike...
We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip;
A trip takes us.
John Steinbeck
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness, all foes to real understanding. Likewise, tolerance, or broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in our little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been. I would take more chances. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets.
Nadine Stair, 85