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In my previous post (Why Travel? (Version 2), I suggested that travel is a form of education. However, as we age, the need to go somewhere else to gain new understanding seems less compelling. Not that we know everything — but the wisdom of later years seems more a result of the integration of knowledge than the accumulation of more experiences.
And with a fiber-optic connection to the Internet, the world cascades upon us through various screens. Some glittering rectangles occupy huge segments of an entire wall.
As a former teacher and, in the later part of my career, an information architect, I view tourism as a variant of a well-designed educational interface.
As with education, there is a preparatory phase, an actual learning event, and a post-event review / test.
For me, the preparatory phase of travel is reading. Indeed, reading about this new somewhere else can be a profound catalyst for insight.
The actual event of travel, if it includes a guide, can have the feel of a brilliant lecture with astonishing 3D visuals.
If one travels with a notebook and a camera (we all now carry a camera with a virtually limitless roll of film), there are recordings of the lecture to review. This review process may inspire more research when we have returned from somewhere else.
[I have a framed quote in my office (a relic from my teaching days). It reads:
“To teach is to learn twice.”]
Creating a BLOG post is a way to re-experience travel — to travel twice.
It is a literal review and an effort to do what we older folks often do while ruminating: connect the dots …
If you have read the previous post, you know that this overwhelming trip was not a bike ride. It was a three-part odyssey where the catalyst for the trip to Europe vanished after our plans were made, and after deposits (non-refundable) were paid. Follow links below for all three sections.
Part 1: Gate 1 Two-week Guided tour of Spain
Includes Flamenco Movie
- Madrid
- Toledo:
- Valencia:
- Granada: Post-1492 insight.
- Sevilla: A Shared Appreciation of Abraham; A Shared Approach To Architecture
- Salamanca:
- Bilbao:
- San Sebastian:
- Toward Barcelona:
- Barcelona: Land of 1992 Olympics and Gaudi
- Tour of Torres Winery!
A moment with my buddy, Maimonides
(I read his philosophy in Spanish as a Middlebury undergraduate)
He is emblematic of a civilized era before the:
- Reconquista
- Inquisition
- Creation of extreme wealth by colonialism
Part 2: Roll-Your-Own 10-day self-guided tour of Spain & Lisbon
Includes Fado music Movie
- The Tour de Joy — sans Clarissa
- Barcelona
- Zaragoza
- San Sebastian …
- Bilbao
- Basque culture through a wineglass
- more Bilbao
- Madrid
- Last night’s dreams: Thich Nhat Hanh:
- Madrid -> Lisbon
- Lisbon
- Lisbon -> Faro…
Is the ATM of a Basque Credit Union really connected to the International Banking System?
Would it recapture a US Debit Card?
Would that feel like a Jew or a Muslim experiencing the Reconquista?
Part 3: Yoga One-week Yoga retreat in Portugal
Sea to See… A summary of a few days in Paradise:
The theme of exploration has been a catalyst for sundry inward meanings as the yoga classes have continued — and as our conversations have ventured past mere pleasantries.
In Portugal, the explorations of Vasco da Gama are still quite real.
When is the edge a good time to stop?
When is the edge a good time to extend one’s effort?
Even after 80 years, new insights can be forged in the crucible of extended travel.