I get the “The Atlantic” delivered to my office each month, and in September’s issue there was an interview by actor Andrew McCarthy of travel writer Paul Theroux entitled “I Hate Vacations.”  I liked the last few sentences of the interview so much that I ripped the bottom corner out of the magazine and saved it.  When rearranging the bookshelves next to my side of the bed, I recently found the bottom right hand corner of page 43, and here’s what it said:

PT: There’s a reason to travel, to verify which way the world is going.
AM: You have a line in the book: “My only boast in travel is my effort.”
PT: I’m glad you remember that, because you can’t boast about really anything else. At least I can say “I put in an effort and I tried to see it.” To see things as they are makes you free—to see things as they are, not nostalgically, not as you wish they were. Just to see them.

I never feel more alive than when I’m exploring a new city…on foot…day and night…seeing things as they are.

And, I’m glad to be going to my 3rd (there have only been 3) Dad 2.0 Summit in 3 days.  Especially since it shouldn’t have life-altering negative consequences this year!