Sometimes we travel to view the kinds of things we ignore at home
“We travel long roads and cross water to see what we disregard when it is under our eyes. This is either because nature has so arranged things so that we go after what is far off and remain indifferent to what is nearby, or because any desire loses its intensity by being easily satisfied, or because we postpone whatever we can see whenever we want, feeling sure we will often get around to it. Whatever the reason, there are numbers of things in this city of ours and its environs which we have not even heard of, much less seen; yet, if they were in Greece or Egypt or Asia…we could have heard all about them, read all about them, looked over all there was to see.”
—Pliny the Younger
June 3rd, 2013 at 4:21 am
I remember reading sentiments like these a number of years ago, and this was one of the reasons I visited Churchill Manitoba (Polar Bear Capitol of the World). The other reason, aside from wanting to see the polar bears at some point, was that my sister was working there for a year so I had a free place to stay 🙂
June 4th, 2013 at 8:42 am
There is plenty of beauty on our door step. We should always try to recognize that, but the harder it is to get to a place, and the more distance involved, the more exotic it’s going to seem. It’s just human nature. Convincing ourselves that it’s worth crossing an ocean, or spinning ourselves half-way around the world is necessary, or else we would probably never go very far. The reward can be profoundly inspiring.
June 5th, 2013 at 7:05 am
What’s the source of this quotation? I can’t find it anywhere…
Thank you!
June 5th, 2013 at 7:23 am
Found it!!!
https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Epistularum_liber_VIII_%28Gaius_Plinius_Caecilius_Secundus%29#20_C._PLINIUS_GALLO_SUO_S.