Book of the Week: Vagabonding

20 Apr 2015

A vacation, after all, merely rewards work. Vagabonding justifies it.

This week I read Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel. This book struck a chord. I grew up with a distaste for tourist. They stick out like a sore thumb, get in the way, have no respect, damage property, leave garbage around, make a lot of noise and just don’t get it. It feels like they are visiting a zoo and everyone around them is a monkey. It reminds me of my first football game. I went there to watch the game, but I didn’t understand why some people weren’t focused on the game. My friend explained to me that some people go there to be seen. Why even bother going if you’re not going to enjoy the game. Is taking a selfie going to enrich your life? Probably not, unless you mean the advertising and affiliate revenue you get because you have a lot of followers. I don’t want to be a tourist, I want to be a traveler. I want to experience what it feels like to live in an area. I want to know enough to see things from a difference perspective. When you think in another language, you can expand the expressiveness of your thoughts. Some people tell themselves they are going to accumulate money and travel later in life, but that is a lie. Travel is cheap. If you really wanted to travel, you can do it. And you should do it, while you’re still young and mobile.