“To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred,
all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Facing some serious health issues, my friend Pete has been writing his autobiography.
He wants to share what he's experienced with his family, but if he could parlay his personal story of an ordinary man living in extraordinary times into some kind of book deal to supplement his government pension, so much the better.
It has given him great pleasure to relive the past as well as a purpose in recording it.
He suggested I do the same.
I had to smile.
I've been writing this blog for ten years, and since many of the early posts are based on weekly newsletters I wrote for CruisePlanners1.com over the course of seven prior years, I guess you could say it's been more like seventeen years that I've been writing it.
First and foremost, it has been about travel, but along the way I've slipped in quite a bit of my own personal life story and family history that's only tangentially related to the places I visited.
I've increasingly included history of regions traveled, supplementing what I've learned from guides and onboard edutainment with my own research.
All combined, it has broadened my understanding of the world and myself.
Like Pete, I hope that my descendants may one day look back at my ramblings and find some truth, humor and understanding.
Dare I hope they find wisdom?
As I told Pete, we are philosopher kings living among tens of millions of philosopher kings.
Hundreds of years ago --- or even during the era of my parents' youth --- life was a constant struggle to eke out subsistence for most people.
While aristocrats may have lived in an exalted, luxurious world --- though by comparison to current lifestyles available to average Americans, really more of a rather ostentatious boredom --- the vast majority were resigned to lives of quiet desperation in brutal poverty, working long. back-breaking days with no time for such frivolous pursuits as journaling or travel.
Whether you take the time to write down your experiences or not, travel makes poets and philosophers of us all.
It's obvious when you sit down in the dining room aboard a cruise with fellow travelers and begin a casual discussion.
Where will your life story take you next?
"Better service leads to better trips!"
Facing some serious health issues, my friend Pete has been writing his autobiography.
He wants to share what he's experienced with his family, but if he could parlay his personal story of an ordinary man living in extraordinary times into some kind of book deal to supplement his government pension, so much the better.
It has given him great pleasure to relive the past as well as a purpose in recording it.
He suggested I do the same.
I had to smile.
I've been writing this blog for ten years, and since many of the early posts are based on weekly newsletters I wrote for CruisePlanners1.com over the course of seven prior years, I guess you could say it's been more like seventeen years that I've been writing it.
First and foremost, it has been about travel, but along the way I've slipped in quite a bit of my own personal life story and family history that's only tangentially related to the places I visited.
I've increasingly included history of regions traveled, supplementing what I've learned from guides and onboard edutainment with my own research.
All combined, it has broadened my understanding of the world and myself.
Like Pete, I hope that my descendants may one day look back at my ramblings and find some truth, humor and understanding.
Dare I hope they find wisdom?
As I told Pete, we are philosopher kings living among tens of millions of philosopher kings.
Hundreds of years ago --- or even during the era of my parents' youth --- life was a constant struggle to eke out subsistence for most people.
While aristocrats may have lived in an exalted, luxurious world --- though by comparison to current lifestyles available to average Americans, really more of a rather ostentatious boredom --- the vast majority were resigned to lives of quiet desperation in brutal poverty, working long. back-breaking days with no time for such frivolous pursuits as journaling or travel.
Whether you take the time to write down your experiences or not, travel makes poets and philosophers of us all.
It's obvious when you sit down in the dining room aboard a cruise with fellow travelers and begin a casual discussion.
Where will your life story take you next?
"Better service leads to better trips!"
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