Mobility is the first, prehistorical human condition

“Contemporary life is perhaps unprecedented in the scale, quantity and global organization of modern journeys, and yet it is clear that travel is not a new human experience. Mobility is the first, prehistorical human condition; sessility (attachment or fixation to one place), a later, historical condition. At the dawn of history, humans were migratory animals. Recorded history — the history of civilization — is a story of mobilities, migrations, settlements, of the adaptation of human groups to place and their integration into topography, the creation of “homes.” In order to understand our present, we must understand how mobility has operated historically, in the past, as a force of change, transforming personalities, social landscapes, human topographies, creating a global civilization.”
–Eric J. Leed, The Mind of the Traveler: From Gilgamesh to Global Tourism (1992)

Posted by | Comments Off on Mobility is the first, prehistorical human condition  | June 10, 2013
Category: Travel Quote of the Day

Comments are closed.