“As a child, yearning to leave home and go far away, the image in my mind was of flight — my little self hurrying off alone. I wanted to find a new self in a distant place, and new things to care about.  The importance of elsewhere was something I took on faith.  Elsewhere was the place I wanted to be.”

-Paul Theroux, The Tao Of Travel

exactement. if i could emulate anyone’s career, it might be that of Paul Theroux. the man has traveled the world, and has an unmatched talent for capturing, on paper, the nuances of each and every nook he’s explored, be it via fiction (the elephanta suite–moody, dark, delicious) or not (dark star safari–safari, as done by a true traveler). even Steve McCurry, the world photographer to Theroux’s writer, agrees, as evidenced here. i love reading this stuff, i love remembering and considering that there is much more to the great big planet than my tiny little manhattan fashion world. because you know what? elsewhere is important.

(above, mccurry’s snapshots of thailand  & burma/ myanmar. appropriate, i know. below, theroux in costa rica, doing his thing.)