Travel

The way we look at the world and at ourselves is formed by the sum of our experiences in life. Travel expands the focal point with which we view things.  It is impossible to understand the world without knowing it, and its impossible to know it from your TV set or computer screen. The only way to experience life is to live it.

Canada is one of the most privileged nations in the world. One of the reasons I know this is because I’ve been elsewhere. It would be easy for me to ignore many of the serious problems plaguing the world from my perspective, and ignore them we must not.

Whether its experiencing the crowded streets of India or the polluted city of Kathmandu, a Buddhist temple atop a mountain or a flooded village in the Amazon rain forest, knowing is understanding, and acting from an informed perspective is always better.

I’ve heard the debate that travel costs money, and in the end what do you have to show for it? When I pack for any trip, I take one backpack – no matter how long or where I’m going. I don’t want stuff, possessions that hang on me like an anchor. In the end what I want is to have lived well, and maybe leave nothing but my footprints behind. I can’t think of a better investment than travel.

Staying home is easy. I have a comfortable home, recreation outside my door and am surrounded by friends and family. Still my feet get itchy for the road, to explore new places, meet new people and expand my horizons.

As a matter of fact, my feet are a little itchy right now.