Engagement!

Our curent and final destination:

September 2007 - Oslo, Norway - after 20 months on the road. ___________________________________________________________________

The last articles:

Egypt in a Nutshell
From Lower to Upper Egypt along the Nile
Jordan in a Nutshell
Israel & Jordan Gallery
Europe Gallery
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Up, up and away!

Robert Louis Stevenson said “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Why would anyone abandon a comfortable job, a great city and wonderful friends to set off on an aimless journey around the world for a year? Why give up the cushy income, benefits, and the newest hybrid?

The whole point is that there is no logical explanation. It’s just something that enters your soul and never leaves until you answer the call. This isn’t a journey of self-discovery. We know who we are, though we may not know what we will do when it’s all over. Not knowing what comes after this is the key. The real call is the unknown, the uncertainty and thus, the possibility. It’s about freedom – freedom from musts and must-haves, from schedules, and walls, freedoms to decide where to go and what to do. You never know where you will lay your head once you choose your destination. You don’t now who will cross your path and teach you some important life lesson, or simply make a boring wait at the train station colorful.

You become part of a community of travelers, all far from home, all with different personalities, goals and needs. But just this travel, this being on the move, links you. Links your lives enough to share a little of yourself albeit for a minute or two. You may even forge a lifelong friendship. You can be best friends as long as your paths run parallel, then you’re on to the next great place and this, also, is freedom. There is an easiness in the comfort of the day to day, especially in a modern society that has something for everyone. You take things for granted. Seeing the rest of the world rips out your lifelines, stirs up fear and makes you feel alive, skin tingling when there is no going home, no end in sight. You’re on your own baby, you have to start again and make a life for yourself. Not just once, but EVERY SINGLE time your bus, train or taxi drops you off in a new location. Looking around you ask yourself “Who are these people? What makes them tick? Where do I find water, food, a bed?” You’re down to the bare necessities. Your senses come alive and as long as you keep the novelty, impressions are sharper. In the words of Oliver Goldsmith, “A man who leaves home to mend himself and others is a philospher; but he who goes from country to country guided by blind impulses of curiosity is only a vagabond”. Well, perhaps we are but vagabonds, driven by little more than curiosity to leave it all behind and venture out into the world. For Lars it’s more about discovery. For me, having lived abroad so long, it’s more a need to recover, recapture, and re-experience the variety of the world. Too much of the same makes Anna a dull girl. God (and my expat parents) gave me traveling shoes.