Why do I travel? Well, this sums it up pretty nicely:
Die Welt ist ein großes Buch, und jene, die nicht reisen, lesen nur die erste Seite.
Got it?
Translated, that means, “The world is a great book, and those who do not travel read only the first page.”
How true.
Travel, for me, is all about exploring, learning, experiencing, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s not about sitting on the beach sipping on a Mai-Tai or margarita. If that’s all you do, then you miss out on so many different perspectives and opportunities.
The journey itself is often more important to me than the destination.
From 35,000 feet in an airplane, you cannot take in the unique smell of the South Carolina lowlands; hear the cowbells chiming on the dairy cows near Appenzell, Switzerland; feel the cold blast of air coming off the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies on a warm summer day; or feel the salt spray from waves crashing on the Big Sur coast of California. And that is why my preferred method of travel is by car.
When you travel with an open mind among the people and places, you quickly learn that your way isn’t the only way, and you come away with a better understanding of why different cultures do the things they do. And in this day and age, we could all do with more understanding of each other.
I’ve been blessed in my life by parents who valued travel and took my sister and I on a number of lengthy road trips in the United States and Canada. Over the years, I’ve driven through all fifty states; nine Canadian provinces; and seven European countries so far. My time in the U.S. Navy took me to Asia, the Indian Ocean, Australia, and the Persian Gulf.
Travel is in my blood. Gute Reise!
—Dan
Zoom on the map and drag to see where I’ve been in the world.
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Travelin' Dan 
Indeed. Traveling has taught me countless priceless lessons I could have learned no other way.
Danke Sehr und Gute Reise, Mein Freund!