Preface

The world is my book.  It's time to start reading.

The reason people travel and what individuals hope to gain from it are topics for discussion that can be dissected almost as endlessly as the meaning of life.  Such a discussion invites perspectives and opinions to which no limits exist.  But when most people travel, it is rare that they are fulfilling their purposes as extensively as they can.  If it is about the ‘experience,’ what IS the experience?  People often travel to see new places.  But that’s it.  When was the last time somebody said they travel to hear new sounds, to smell new aromas, to taste new ingredients, or even to just feel differently?    As unintentional as it often is, traveling can be motivating.  It can inspire.  It can challenge.  It can release inhibition.  And for me, if I were to reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the unknown, and avoid the people, then I might as well stay home.

The world is a book, and confining myself to one locale is like reading only one page (or something like that).  But just as in any story, a traveler must pay attention to far more than the words themselves.  We must focus on all the details of what we read in order to understand the story, to synthesize it, and to assign meaning to it.  

Consider this the beginning of my own story:  one which is based on the world around me, but my own interpretation and reiteration of it.  In my upcoming adventures, I will share my thoughts on travel and on life.   And with my camera as my brush, I will paint portraits and landscapes as well. 

In the past two decades, I have spent time in Mexico, Canada, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Ecuador.  I will tell you this:  From all my adventure, I have seen far more than I can ever remember.  But I remember far more than I have ever seen.  That, to me, is far more fantastic than any dream and far more priceless than any commodity.  That… is traveling.

Above:  New Zealand, 2002