"Wander Aimlessly About"

A recent issue of The Smithsonian magazine is devoted to travel writing. In the introduction to this section, Jam Morris reminds us:

"When in 1922, the novelist E.M. forster set out to write a guidebook to the Egyptian city of Alexandria, his most memorable advice was 'to wander aimlessly about.' In that one famous phrase, he was admitting that the subjective means more than the objective."

Writing about travel, Morris further asserts, requires: "the alliance of knowledge and sensation, nature and intellect, sight and interpretation, instinct and logic."

I frequently am disappointed with myself when I visit a new place that I haven't done more research in preparation for the trip and that I haven't pursued a rigorous itinerary. However, I find I'm even more disappointed if I'm overly prepared and intentional. My approach to travel is pretty consistent with my primary philosophy of life: drift and intention. Only by allowing oneself to drift, it seems to me, can real intentionality become revealed.