Jeff Greenwald Quotations

TRAVEL to the developing world is a challenge for many people. They are often afraid of seeing the poor. They are afraid that something will be asked of them they can't provide, that their compassion will be tested and found wanting.

Some people travel to escape. There's nothing wrong with that. But those who want to challenge themselves, to immerse themselves in the variety of talent and lifestyles available on this planet, must open themselves up.

Despite a lack of the material wealth we so value in the West, many people in developing countries have fulfilling lives. So maybe we've missed the boat. Maybe happiness is not about affluence.

We go where we need to go, and then try to figure out what we're doing there.

In Nepal, the phenomenon is reversed. Time is a stick of incense that burns without being consumed. One day can seem like a week; a week, like months. Mornings stretch out and crack their spines with the yogic impassivity of house cats. Afternoons bulge with a succulent ripeness, like fat peaches. There is time enough to do everything - write a letter, eat breakfast, read the paper, visit a shrine or two, listen to the birds, bicycle downtown to change money, buy postcards, shop for Buddhas - and arrive home in time for lunch.

That same preface also contains a single line that really does sum everything up: 'Some other places were not so good but maybe we were not so good when we were in them.'

May be my favorite of my Cuba dispatches.....

Sharing a bit of yourself, opening a window into your own world, is a good place to begin.

All the above is, of course, a gross simplification. There are deeper reasons to travel - itches and tickles on the underbelly of the unconscious mind. We go where we need to go, and then try to figure out what we're doing there.