The Art of Traveling
When you pack your bags to explore the beauties of your own
country, or to travel around the world, consider these keys
to a happy journey:
- Travel lightly. You are not traveling for people to see you.
- Travel expectantly. Every place you visit is like a surprise package to be opened. Untie the strings with an expectation of high adventure.
- Travel hopefully. "To travel hopefully," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, "is better than to arrive."
- Travel humbly. Visit people and places with reverence and respect for their traditions and ways of life.
- Travel courteously. Consideration for fellow travelers and hosts will smooth the way through the most difficult days.
- Travel gratefully. Show appreciation for the many things that are being done by others for your enjoyment and comfort.
- Travel with an open mind. Leave your prejudices at home.
- Travel with curiosity. It is not how far you go, but how deeply you go that mines the gold of experience. Thoreau wrote a big book about tiny Walden Pond.
- Travel with imagination. As the old Spanish proverb puts it, "He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him."
- Travel fearlessly. Banish worry and timidity; the world and its people belong to you just as you belong to the world.
- Travel relaxed. Make up your mind to have a good time. Let go and enjoy it.
- Travel patiently. It takes time to understand others, especially when there are barriers of language and custom; keep flexible and adaptable to all situations.
- Travel with the spirit of a world citizen. You'll discover that people are basically much the same the world around. Be an ambassador of goodwill to all people.