The Grand Tour is associated with wealthy brits traveling around Italy back in the 19^th C., think of Lord Byron, or E. M. Forster’s Room with a View. But long before them, noble Spaniards were doing the Grand Tour, as I recently discovered at a brilliant exhibition at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, titled Palabras de Viajeros.

The Grand Tour eventually morphed into “Euro railing” which was a Summer jaunt through Europe taking advantage of cheap rail tickets. My niece did this last year and there seemed to be more flights than trains and more discos than museums…

Nowadays I do not travel as much as I used to. Mainly because I am now tied to the academic calendar, and when I am not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family, with Celia, with friends. But I still manage little escapades to Chapel Hill, to Rome, to the Camino. And I am excited to visit St. Augustine soon, look out for that post.

The issue here is not so much an issue of quantity as much as quality. Discovering new foods, talking to locals, walking, walking, walking. And processing, maybe through writing, keeping a diary -for me it is this blog- I do not know if Instagram allows you enough depth to really appreciate your travels, although we always enjoy nice photos.

At any rate, the conclusion is simple: if you can, when you can, go travel.

 Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.

Mark Twain