Having fought with the Gods and the best of warriors and conquered them all, the Greek hero Ulysses stood on the island of Ithaca preparing his ships to continue travelling across the oceans into the unknown lands whose people he had never heard of or met. To him, life is all about travelling. Not travelling and discovering new places would be like 'to rust un burnished'. Transcend beyond these chapters of Greek mythology and you will find that there is more than the literary brouhaha. The real purpose of life is met by travelling across the globe where one gets to meet people and discover the diversity and spirit of man's existence.
To sit with print and electronic media and say that you have seen the world sounds no better than the frog in a pond with billion dollar GPS gizmo. Travelling outside one's country presents situations and experiences that cannot be captured in some book or the internet. John Sparrow may have digested the history, geography and the architecture of the Taj Mahal in India, but he can never come close to the Jack who travelled miles to watch the wonder of the world that a king made for his beloved.
The world travel shows on Discovery and National Geographic can only project that Micronesians live somewhere in the Pacific. The invaluable information you received might as well be gulped down with a pint of beer you had during a session of 'Friends.' But if you care to take the pains to visit Micronesia, you will be able to come back and tell people about the life, people, penguins and also neighboring Polynesia. Most importantly, the experience will always live with you. It will not die. You have shared the experience with John Sparrow and he will carry your spirit to Polynesia to check whether what you shared was really true.
It is experiences that make the man. To understand the culture of people it is necessary to be with them. One can never learn how Romans do if you have never been to Rome ! The media can project the picture of the Sistine Chapel but unless you land there and heard the town crier shout ,'ora pro nobis' , you would know what and how Romans do.
Men live with a particular culture which defines the civilization. Each of them is so distinct and unique. But then we are living in an age where we research on how to reach the Mars but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. It is said that a good example is better than a thousand lines of explanation. On a similar note, a trek on the Alps is more worthy than having read hundred books on Alps. This is the power of travel, people and experience. Man is a social animal and the society does not live on a dotcom hill. Culture is a parameter than cannot be gauged on a meter. Only when you visit India you know that there is more to the land than 'elephants and snakes.' It is a vibrant economy where the educated gentry talk English better than someone from Yorkshire.
The knowledge that one carries is a combination of factors. One important factor is travelling. The exploration of the land, water and space is a natural instinct of the humankind. It is not subject to challenge. Unless our blokes land on the Mars, will we be able to talk about it. Before they land their, we can only do what the English language calls- guess, surmise, conjecture and prognosticate.
Let us not play with the probability paraphernalia. Step out of your cubicles. The 'blue planet' is the most beautiful and enchanting object in space. Let us explore it - the gamut of people, cultures, civilization, mysteries and myths.
Bon voyage !