"You have no need to travel anywhere. Journey within yourself." That is a quote by Rumi. So who is Rumi? A good question, and one I also asked myself. It ends up that Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet. I was a bit relieved to hear that! I thought he was going to be some old wasted hippy messiah or something.
No matter who Rumi was, I must say that I really do agree with his quote. While I will be the first to admit that I am not a world traveler, I have traveled throughout much of North America and I must say that there is nothing that I have seen that can match my imagination. Don't get me wrong, I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the places I have been... a small town in Mississippi, so far off the beaten path that railroad tracks run down the main street and shop keepers come out of the stores and chat with the train engineers as the train slowly rumbles down the street. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Peoria all surprised to the upside, as did Cincinnati, while Philly, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Dallas all seemed a little less special than I had imagined. To be honest, if I close my eyes for a moment I can picture beautiful landscapes of places I have never been. Amalgamations of places I have read about or pictures I have seen. So far, none of the places I have been can match the beauty I can perceive in my own imagination. Images are not the only thing you can explore in your mind. Your thoughts can also be examined. What do you think about when you are alone? I know that I oftentimes contemplate things that I normally won't talk about with most people. Furthermore, there are some things that just don't come up in normal everyday conversation. A wise man should know his own thoughts, that way he can better judge the thoughts of others. So, after saying all of that, does that mean that I am against traveling to new places? Not at all. All I am pointing out is that we all have things to explore within our own minds. While travel is nice, it is not necessary for a person to be well traveled to be a well rounded person. Know your mind, and the rest will follow. Travel if you can, but don't feel bad if you can't afford to travel often.
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