What Travel Can, and Cannot, Teach Us
Is travel “a fool’s paradise,” per Ralph Waldo Emerson, or the only way to understand “La Dolce Vita”?
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Last week, I asked readers what they’ve learned while traveling away from home. I was surprised so few of you responded, because there’s such a rich history of answers to this question.
Perhaps my favorite is from James Michener’s nonfiction classic , where the author describes a journey into the countryside to picnic with some friends before dropping this passage:
