More benefits of travel

why we travel — By Bob Riel on August 17, 2006 at 6:48 am

What does one gain from travel? Numerous writers over the years have tried their hand at answering that question, and Sophia Dembling adds her name to the list with her recent “Wandering Mind” column in the Chicago Tribune. Here is an excerpt from her piece:

Travel is enlightening in so many ways. … I think having traveled informs everything you think or do, if only in that it forces you to confront the minuscule place you hold in an enormous world. It requires that you accept without debate that your way is only one way in millions. It gives you points of reference all over the globe.

And, done right, travel begins to unravel some of the mysteries of modern times so that we are perpetually conscious of the wide world even as we mill about the small world we inhabit daily. Which means that our small world gets bigger with every trip.