Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

- Dwight Eisenhower

As you may know, I spent the last three months in Africa. A wondrous, magical place. But as shadows lengthen across the KBHR window, thoughts turn to homecoming. Journey’s end. Because in a sense it’s the coming back, the return, which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don’t know where we’ve been until we’ve come back to where we were. Only, where we were may not be as it was because of who we’ve become. Which, after all, is why we left.

- Bernard in “Northern Exposure,” Episode 3.21
contributed by Luci

We know from the first step that travel is often a matter of confronting our fear of the unfamiliar and the unsettling - of the rooster’s head in the soup, of the raggedy edge of unfocused dread, of that cliff face that draws us willy-nilly to its lip and forces us to peer into the void.

- Tim Cahill

To travel hopefully is better than to arrive.

- James Jeans

By definition, divining chance means leaving yourself open to both good and bad experiences. Good judgment can come from bad experiences; good experiences can come from bad judgment. The key in all of this is trust chance, and to steer it in such a way that you’re always learning from it. Dare yourself to do simple things you normally wouldn’t consider - whether this means exploring a random canyon, taking up an invitation to dine with a stranger, or just stopping all activity to experience a moment more fully. These are the kinds of humble choices - each of them as bold as bungee jumping - that lead not only to new discoveries but to an uncommon feeling of hard-won joy.

- Rolf Potts, “Vagabonding”