Love at first word

From the first sentence of Bacon's essay on travel, I was hooked.

"Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience."

I could not agree with Bacon more on the importance of travel. Traveling is as beneficial to education as reading a book or taking a class. It teaches with lessons, takes us outside of our comfort zones, and forces us to think. In my travel experiences I have been forced to think about how history has shaped the world and still leaves an imprint. It forces me to think about how my life and the culture I grew up in are unique or connected in some ways to others. Traveling makes me realize how little I actually know, and how much I have yet to learn.

For Bacon, traveling is a part of a scientific theory. He sees travel as comprised of observation, interpretation and reflection. Even though his travels were fabricated, he used travel as a way to express his ideas about the world and the way it should be- or at least the way it could be. I also believe that the travel experience should include observation, interpretation and reflection... maybe not for the purpose of thinking about how the would should be, but how it is (outside of our own small parts of the world) and how we as people/students/women fit into it, AND how we can positively contribute to it...

Basically, I love travel, and I think it is one of the greatest ways to become a more well-rounded and conscious person. It has certainly added many great things to my life and enhanced my state of being (as well as brought HUST to life!)

Okay this was really cheesy. Choc it up to the 'roids for making me emotional.