Erica's Choice

One of the dismal aspects of travel is the many hours lost waiting for the next train to board, the next flight to catch. I find it tiring and many people see it as a good reason not to travel! However, over the years I’ve learned to approach it from a different perspective. Now I almost find solace in it as this represents a moment in time that I can self reflect and dedicate to things that I like and never get time to do, such as reading.

I love reading.

My love for reading was fostered through stories that my father used to tell my sister and I before bed time. He would read books such as The Pillars of the Earth, The Clan of the Cave Bear, When the Lion Feeds, among other, read a portion one evening and the following evening tell the story to us up to the spot that he had read. I was young and couldn’t even read myself, yet his story telling opened a new world to me. It allowed me to travel to other countries and times, experience exotic cultures and ideas and see things from a different perspective. Inherently my dad’s love for reading was contagious so the moment that I could I started to read these books myself. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Reading represents one of the catalysts of why I travel today.

It all started when I read the book Shogun, by James Clavel. This book set in Japan several hundreds of years ago takes one back into the culture of that time, the way of living (which was so different and unusual compared to my own culture) and further explores the history of that era. I got lost in the culture, the history and ways of life in Japan. I knew then, thousands of miles away in the dark continent of Africa and barely 13 years old, that there was no turning back. I understood that traveling is ingrained in me as my hunger to explore these cultures, places, food, (now wine) and ideas will never cease.

Since then I’ve read hundreds of books on travel, wine, history, religion, the world and in almost each one I have learned something about other people and about myself. Some favorites include The Pillars of the Earth, River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt, The Fountainhead, The Covenant, The Historian, The Kite Runner
and recently read Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. Currently I’m reading Shantaram: A Novel, the autobiography of an Australian fugitive that explores the world and life in Bombay and starts a shelter for kids in the slums. So far I find it exceptionally well written and an eye opening novel.

So now, when I sit at the airport, wait for the train, or drive in a taxi, I just grab a book and get lost in it. I forget about the hours that pass and enjoy the moment.