Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Recommended Reading: A Sense of Place connects

A Sense of Place hits a lot of the right notes about travel and lessons learned on the road.

“I will go to my grave claiming that the less you spend the more you enjoy, the more authentic the experience it is, the more profound, the more exciting, the more unexpected.” - Arthur Frommer, author of Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, and much more

I agree, and lived Mr. Frommer’s philosophy during a nine-day motorcycle and camping trip to Thunder Bay in 2007. (See two photos below from Day 2 of that trip).


“I believe that most of the world’s conflicts are less a function of the way people are, and more about the way governments and power-mongers are. It’s my conviction that the vast majority of people on this planet would like to be left alone to live and work in peace, to raise their families, and to exist in a generous and rational way.” - Jeff Greenwald, author of Scratching the Surface, and more

Coincidentally, near the end of my latest read, Long Way Down (re a motorcycle journey from the northern tip of Scotland to the southern tip of Africa), Charlie Boorman said much the same thing after being warned about so many dangers:

“Africa... is a continent full of people who just want normal everyday things like a home and somewhere for their children to go to school. In all the time I’ve been here I’d not felt threatened once.”

The lesson learned from the above words and books: To enjoy the trip more fully, shed as much stuff as possible and keep your eyes open.

Though I won’t strongly recommend Long Way Down (I’m sure the DVDs will be better than the book), I do recommend A Sense of Place.

See ‘Read This’ in right margin.

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