Quotations about Travel

My second day of the 30 days of Indie Travel writing.

Prompt #14 – Quote

Below are 6 of my favorite quotations about travel.

“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

Home

Over the weekend I discovered the 30 days of Indie travel from Bootsnall.com.  While I am a bit late to the party (starting with prompt 13) it is my goal to write each and every day for the next 30 days, completing the remaining 17 prompts then finishing up with the 12 I have missed so far.  This will give me a chance to write about some past experiences and trips instead of just the most recent.  I have not forgotten about South Africa though and will continue to work on these stories from the rest of an amazing trip.

Prompt #13 – Home

I have a home, or rather two homes or is it two partial homes.  I talk about Beijing as my home but also Grand Rapids, MI.  At the end of the day I feel far more at home in Grand Rapids than in Beijing, but spend far more time during the year in Beijing.

Home is where you return to.  Home is where the heart is.  Home is where your stuff is. Home is where you feel comfortable.

        

If I am using any of these three as a metric I return to both Grand Rapids and Beijing.  My heart is more in Grand Rapids, though Beijing will always have a special place there.  Most of my stuff is in Beijing, though I do have that self-storage facility in Grand Rapids filled with childhood memorabilia and knick knacks from other key points in my life.  I suppose I feel the most comfortable in Grand Rapids which would be the tie breaker but I still remain wondering if this is really where my home is.  I am not sure if I will ever live there again.  As long as I have family there I will keep returning, but if not a permanent home can it really be home.  I may never have a permanent home again which would suit me fine.

I prefer to think of the world as my home, with each new destination a place to welcome me home. Just like Grand Rapids and Beijing there are some “home-comings” that are better than others.  For the very best I hope to be welcomed back over and over again.