Reading the World

Think about it ~ reading the world like you read a book! Travel provides the diversity of stories. Every place I go as I travel is a new chapter overflowing with information about people, places, culture and history. Travel is exciting as well as educational. It has opened doors on cultures in ways that I never could see from only my little corner of the world.


Some places I'd love to 'read' that I haven't yet: Malta, Poland, Scotland, Croatia, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Nova Scotia. So many adventures ahead! So much to explore and discover! Travel is one of my top five activities.

Also akin to reading books, sometimes there is not enough time or energy or resource to get through them all. I believe the desire brings me closer to the accomplishment ~ and keeps me seeking ~ than if I were to give up.

Augustine was broadly traveled. Born in what is now Algeria in 354 A.D., he was a Roman citizen and traveled to Carthage (in modern Tunis) at 17 to attend school. Later he moved to Milan as well. In 391, he was ordained a priest back in his native Algeria, where he remained until his death in 430. When I think about what travel must have been like at that time, he certainly was quite the adventurer!

Sometimes, too, travel through the world is an internal affair. Not that one doesn't want to go beyond the home base, but there are often reasons for not leaving. In our modern day, much exploration can be done through words and images in both print books and online resources. Though not quite the same, it's nevertheless an adventure in its own right.

Where would you like to travel? Why? What do you see to 'read' in that place? What have you 'read' or discovered in your travels, in the world at large or in your community? Look around you. Read what's there. Learn from it.