Vagabonding

Perusing the travel shelf at Borders (which always has me thinking about the next trip), I found two books, by Rolf Potts. The one with the catchy title was Marco Polo Didn't Go There. However, the book that I was actually able to get from the library was Vagabonding. Rolf describes how to plan for, finance, and enjoy extended travel, which incidentally, is different from vacation. Americans are starved for vacation compared to other industrialized countries, and even then some people don't take their allotted 2 weeks (what's wrong with them?).

On vacation you try to cram as much as possible into a short period of time (supporting the tour bus industry). Traveling gives you more time to relax, enjoy, and on occasion, not do anything. My trip to Thailand was the closest I've been to having a vagabond experience and it makes me hungry to do it again. Soon.

One of the quotes in the book, from a vagabonder herself (L. Spalding in Arizona), was "My family and friends often say to me, "I'm living vicariously through you." Don't ever live vicariously. This is your life. Live."