My husband has a genius ability for finding articles that are really interesting and off the beaten path. It matches his ability of finding off the beaten path travel locations. My husband is just pretty cool. His latest article discovery was this BBC article about Paul Salopek. He is a journalist/anthropologist who is walking the migratory path out of Africa taken by early migratory human groups into the rest of the world. He started in Ethiopia and is currently in the Republic of Georgia.
The article is a question and answer series that highlights some specific experiences, but also addresses why Paul Salopek is making this trek. He has a very interesting viewpoint about how walking creates connectivity between people and places. If you are interested in anthropology, psychology, and/or travel, you will probably enjoy the article.
I found it interesting that he disdains cars and planes as being devices that deprive us of really experiencing our surroundings. I have felt that on a very small scale moving from a community where my children and I could walk most places to a town where everything is a lengthy drive away. I miss the connection to the place we live that I had when we spent more time walking everywhere. And now with smart phones being so prevalent, I fear that connection is lost even more.
Someday my husband and I want to walk the Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain. How does an experience like that change you as a person? I don’t know yet, but someday I want to find out.
You can follow this link below to the article. Enjoy!
little travel bugs 