In my opinion, travel not only broadens the mind and widens the base of experiences by lengthens one's life as well, in the sense of increasing those moments when one feels most fully alive. This often requires stepping outside one's normal life in order to be surprised, inspired, frustrated and enraged. Through traveling I do much more that experience the places I visit; I learn about myself and my own place in the world. I travel in order to be certain that I can still find my way through life. I believe that we are composed of our experiences and relationships, big and small, good and bad. By spending the past week in Greece I have absorbed a bit of this country into myself. And although I will never speak fluent Greek, understand the history as ... read more

This morning the winds were strong and the seas were rough (so they told me) and my ferry to Hydra was canceled. Tomorrow I will try again. In the meanwhile I would have substituted the museums I meant to see tomorrow but everything was closed for Greek Independence Day. So in an attempt to salvage the day, and with few other options, I decided to see the Independence Day parade. Tanks and soldiers and airplanes, oh my! Greek's nationalism comes not only from rightful pride in their impressive national heritage but also from their difficult history of subjugation by other nations. Everyone has wanted to claim Greece: the Romans, the Venetians, the Russians, and the Ottoman Turks, from whom Greece declared its independence in 1822. However, civil war soon broke out, and in an effort to ... read more

Well it's been a whirlwind past couple of days, with many hours spent on the bus. I also have further updates on the animal life here in Athens. Not only are there bats, but on Friday morning as I wandered out of the hostel one of the stray dogs got up, looked at me and proceeded to walk me to the metro station, which I hadn't been to before. I suppose they do serve some civic purpose! Unfortunately I didn't have a snack to give him. Then, as I got off the metro and went to find the National Archaeological Museum I passed this crazy parade of at least a dozen little fuzzy caterpillars, again, pointing me in the right direction. Maybe the other animals also like to see the sights? The National Archaeological Museum was ... read more

Well, I've touched down and am now typing from my hostel in Athens. The flights went ok, if you like that sort of thing. The food and drinks were good and we didn't crash, so I call that a success. I had a few anxious moments...but we won't go into that now. After getting in at two in the morning I had a little nap at the airport - rated as one of the best airports for sleeping, by the way - and then took the bus to central Athens and walked the rest of the way to my hostel. There is a strike going on here, and the metro isn't running, but this sites seem pretty concentrated near the area I'm staying so I'm not too concerned. After sitting all those hours on the plane ... read more

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.  -Mark Twain Hello all, and welcome to my first and only travel blog. I hope that you haven't had too much trouble finding it, and I would recommend that you spend some time looking around the site to see how it works. You'll find you can subscribe, leave comments to my posts and send messages to me privately. Commentary is encouraged! You should note, however, that this blog is public and so anyone may read your comments - type wisely. A few things first. To those whom I've invited to this blog, I have ... read more