imho's VirtualTourist Home Page

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"When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language the people speak. So you are like a child just out of the womb. You begin to attach much more importance to things around you because your survival depends upon them. You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations. And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life.

"At the same time, since all things are new, you see only the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive."
- Paulo Coelho, "The Pilgrimage"

Travel has always been somewhat of a spiritual experience for me;
the most effective balm to soothe a weary soul.

Whenever I get stuck in a rut -- creative, personal, professional, or otherwise --- I find that escaping from the urban jungle I call home can really jumpstart me back to life.

The further I can get away, the better.

There's nothing quite like sitting by the ocean at night, letting yourself drown in pitch darkness, looking up at the millions of stars that you never seem to see in the city, and knowing that all your cares and worries --- which are all beginning to seem trivial at this point --- are thousands of miles away.

Or walking down unfamiliar streets halfway around the world, taking in the little differences of other cultures, and discovering the many similarities to your own.

Or even just sharing familiar roads and favorite sights in the company of friends.

But at the end of the day, after your soul has been sufficiently refreshed, your heart begins to long for home, and all the sights, sounds, and smells you wanted to get away from in the first place.

While I have been privileged to travel to destinations both near and far, fully intending to see a lot more of this wonderful planet we live in, home is always the last, and most welcome, stop on my long journey.