#wanderlust

Working around universities, you get used to being asked the “3 classics”:

1. What’s your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What do you study? (or in my case, “since you don’t study here, why on earth are you on campus?”)

But now there’s a fourth that closely follows any lull in conversation:
4. Where have you travelled?

“Wanderlust” as affectionately known, has captured the heart of every twenty-something-year-old and many more besides.  During long winter months we flick through old photos, we peruse online travel guides, we escape for weekend breaks.  During spring days the talk and excitement builds: the world is our oyster!  Where shall we go?

And for students the magic happens, when, the pen is put down in the last exam and…boom!  It’s 4 months (sorry to those Brits who only get 3) of unadulterated freedom, travel and enjoying the world we’re in!

And then during autumn we reminisce and spend the days in darkened lecture halls, secretly still far away in our minds, dreaming of what has been and what still might be.

Many questions come to mind; why this craze with travel?; where should I go?; is it ok to spend life exploring the world when there are other needier causes?; who should I go with?; what’s a good theology/philosophy of travel?

And so these are just some of what I may try and attempt to think through or get others to share their thoughts on here.  In the meantime, I include a photo I took from Jugurtha’s Table in Tunisia, where Dan Ross (the Rebel Cyclist) and I stayed a night, overlooking the vast expanse into Algeria.  One of the most stunning spots I have ever slept in.  Though it did come at a cost, having been followed up the mountain by armed men, accosted by them and later left alone to sleep amongst “very dangerous wild animals”.  But that’s a story for another time!