In addition to chronicling where we have gone and what we have done, I want to use this blog to attempt an answer to my grandfather’s question. I want to examine my own motivations for traveling and to dissect the underlining premise of the question, namely that things must have a measurable utility in order to be valuable.
So it begins.
None of us slept at all on the flight to London. This was a huge tactical error because we landed at 7:45 am local time, putting a whole day before our weary, plane-fatigued bodies. We decided that the rush of adrenaline and the aid of energy drinks would keep us going. It didn’t. When we finally made it to the British Library, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. And that is saying something, considering that the only existing manuscript copy of Beowulf was two feet in front of me. If Beowulf or Paul McCartney’s handwritten lyrics for Yesterday or pages from Da Vinci’s notebooks can’t wake me up, then I really need a nap.
Part of this trip is about staying with people rather than in hotels. Saving money is part of it, but meeting new people is our main motive. We started with two of my college friends, Matt Gierhart and Josh Montgomery. They ive in London, and they were gracious enough to let us stay with them for a night on the floor of their flat. After a much needed nap, Matt and Josh took us around the corner for some local fare at the Indian Cottage. I grew to love Indian food in New York City, and I’ve quite missed it in Amarillo. The meal was great. Meals and friends seem like self-justifying reasons to travel, but I will explore the reasons for travel in my next post.
We slept for four hours that night and caught a flight to Seville, Spain. More on that later.
