SIDELINES //
The Wisdom Of An 87-Year Old Traveler
by Mike Richard
WorldHum’s Matt Villano gets nearly stranded in Norway. A kindly 87-year old Norwegian man – a traveler to five continents and over sixty countries in his youth – gets him back on track and shares a bit of traveler’s wisdom in the process.
“All I’ve tried to do in my life is explore,” he offered. “The more you see, the more you do and the more people you meet, the richer life becomes.”
I needed a few seconds to digest this philosophical brilliance. Bilger, sensing the impact of his words, grew wistful, as well. For five minutes, we sped on in silence.
The simple brilliance of a life well-lived. The complete article is poignant and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
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About the Author
Vagabondish editor, Mike Richard, lives in Rhode Island - a spit of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person.
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October 4th, 2007
Wow, thank you for the beautifully written story.
What I’m finding as we travel around, is that the best moments of our journeys have been when we allow our intuition to take over and go with it. Forget “the plan,” just remember to enjoy the moment. By doing so, we too met some really wonderful people like Bilger. That’s been the best part of our trip thus far.
You should check out the books that my 70-something friend Ted Simon has written, about his motorcycle adventures around the world. He’s taught me a lot.