Destination Earth: Nicos
a good friend and travel mentor of mine writes in his book Destination Earth
about the power of travelling as a mean of educating one's self in an "alive" manner,
perhaps the only truly alive educational mode we have as it "harmonizes knowledge with life itself".
being a little emerging world traveller too I identified with Nico's ideology and felt I had to write a couple of the themes that are in the first pages of his book.
My new bible!
I didn't start travelling having a clear aim or thinking how a few hundreds or thousands of
miles will change my life. all I really did was to focus on the first few kilometers I needed to make my way to an airport or a train station or a port.
it wasn't out of need to escape, it has always been an impulse to explore more than I was presented with, see the world for myself by myself, away from my "pond".
and since the first time i did so i simply loved being on the road no matter the "brutal" switch of my everyday habits, like when/ where I'll sleep what to eat etc after all one of my favorite traveling traits is that you have no habits -well apart from smoking in my case- and hence you don't block off your mind from its inner thoughts to go to the basic needs of a somehow predictable everyday lifestyle.
often I have been called brave for leaving my country and not having a base as such, however i feel
travelling shouldn't be viewed as a brave act or even the outcome of a privileged lifestyle for the wealthy and only. Just like education, travelling -even more the last couple decades- has become an approachable way of education to anyone and everyone. And if there are privileged groups in it, these are the recent generations who grew up in a world where borders, politics (with their ups and downs) and airlines are favoring this new way of life.
what i saw in Nicos writing and was amazed by it- we do have a couple of decades age gap- is a similarity in our work's higher goal to inspire people to travel, to get out of what is considered a safe zone, a pond where all the fish look, swim and taste the same.
to be part of an evolution in our society where we experience the world in its whole complexity and beauty.
as one destination.
