On the Road Again
“I’m letting go of everything I own and traveling to Morocco. Am I crazy?” I asked. “No, society’s crazy,” Andre answered. That was Friday. On Saturday I met John, a 28-year-old Rockefeller wannabe who told me: “That’s the problem with our generation, they think they can float through life and fall into something or find something. You need goals! You need plans!”
Just when I desperately needed it, I accidentally found Joe Robinson’s “Real Travel” (July/Aug. 2001). One doesn’t need exorbitant amounts of money to travel. Money can be a cushion between you and experience. When you have a limited budget, you’re more vulnerable, which pushes you to interact with the local community. Being a budget traveler is a Zen experience: I let go and become one with the country and its people.
Nina Kunimoto New York, NY
While the lure of traveling is undeniable, I was disappointed that you did not discuss the environmental costs and implications of jet and car travel. Nor did you address the socioeconomic conditions that make it possible for many people in the United States to travel to far-flung places whose inhabitants are barely eking out a living. I struggle with these issues and was hoping Utne Reader does too.
Nancy Stockford Dorchester, MA
