Love of Travel

Submitted by nicoletta on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 11:01
Why our authors spent their lives traveling
Many of our authors loved travel so much, that they never stopped.  Marco Polo, Ibn Battutah, Herodotus, Columbus and Cabeza de Vaca spent most of theirs lives on the road.  The question is why?  For Marco Polo, I think it was his curiosity that motivated him to continue traveling.  Ibn Battutah traveled to learn, visiting the various schools and scholars of the Koran.  Herodotus like Ibn Battutah also traveled for knowledge but he was more of a researcher into historical events.  Caebza de Vaca and Columbus wanted to keep exploring which is why they returned to the New World.

The reason I am focusing on Travel for my colloquium topic is because I believe that even in modern times travel can be a lifetime commitment.  Even with better transportation, maps, and other benefits of modern technology traveling can still be an exciting adventure.  I loved reading these texts this semester because they gave me new ideas of places to travel to and things to see.  In the end, the drive each author had to explore and to keep traveling, even if they had barely survived the last trip, was inspirational.  I think these authors kept traveling simply because they loved it.

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madmadmad's picture

Since we often discuss how

Submitted by madmadmad on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 19:08.
Since we often discuss how traveling today no longer promises the same sense of adventure it did for earlier travelers, I liked reading your opinion that even with more information regarding travel routes and less uncharted territory, traveling can continue to be an exciting adventure.  Photographs and travel narratives might tell us what to expect from a place, but I don't think these documentations are capable of spoiling the unique feelings and experiences that occur when traveling. 
Katherine's picture

Forget corporate America!

Submitted by Katherine on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 16:48.
Well said! I definitely love the idea of travel as a lifestyle rather than simply a short-lived escapist activity. The nomadic choice becomes a part of one's identity, much like how one's hometown can be a source of pride. Our modern-day perception of long-term travel is complex. It goes against the accepted traditional model of one's maturation, i.e. getting an education and joining corporate America. I think it certainly takes guts to choose a life that is not as rooted and more uncertain than the typical.