REFLECTIONS : Travel ? When ?
A
haunting song by Bing Crosby on the internet , ends thus :
“ Those faraway places
With strange sounding names
Are calling me !”
It reveals the longing to see and experience the places that one reads or hears about . Children want to know what ’ s in the next room , beyond the fence , beyond their school . Youth want to know what opportunities lie beyond their environment , and once attained , they do want to see , not just through the internet , those faraway places with strange sounding names .
Travel , which has evolved to our present world over time , has reached such an incredible stage since the mass migrations of people to places that better their conditions in life . Now we travel to celebrate good times or commiserate on sad times . We go places to help people in need , or to spread a culture , or a religion that we believe in . We make worldwide missions and treaties to protect lives and deter destruction of the things that we deem good .
by TERESITA BACANI-OROPILLA , MD
We , insatiable mortals , want to see what past generations have to offer , their grandeur and why they flourished and / or perished .
Indeed there is much to see , the lavish civilization of the Pharaohs of Egypt , the klongs and temples of old Siam ( now Thailand ), the remarkable great walls of China and the recently discovered stone soldiers of an erstwhile emperor , are wonders to behold . What about the Coliseum in Rome where people were fed to lions for sport , or the catacombs that conjure an ancient culture the deeper you go ?
From Greece and much of Europe , long lines of kings and philosophers have brought us laws and traditions , amended through the ages , that still affect our own . What happened to the great Incan Empire of South America ?
Australia , Asia , the African continent have their own beauty , folklore and beliefs that are ripe for humanistic exploration and explanations !
Are we longing to see these wonderful places with the not so strange sounding names after the internet has propagated them ?
Should we take time to do so ? It is never too late ! Or , is it later than we think ?
Dr . Bacani-Oropilla is a retired pediatrician and psychiatrist . March 2023 35