“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

—T.S. Eliot, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets (Gardners Books; Main edition, April 30, 2001) Originally published 1943.” (The final verses of the poem are printed below.)

This quote was chosen as inspiration in a collection of traveler’s essays, to consider the new perspectives that come from travel (The Power of Travel, Steve Zikman, 1999). The book explores all the ways you can grow from the discoveries of being in another place.

“Travel” can mean any choice to explore life outside your usual routine, even a walk in a different neighborhood or at an unusual time of day. In writing a letter today, consider your summer travels or local experiences and how they may cause you to see things differently.

Suggestions for incorporating insights from your summer days:

• Did something along your travels remind you of someone back home? You can write them to share this insight.

• Can you describe a period of time that you felt particularly relaxed and able to reflect on a topic you want to share with your intended reader?

• Recount the details of a moment when you thought your letter recipient should be there, and why.

• What sounds made you think of someone, a song, a voice on a phone, passers-by entangled in words?

• Did traveling recall a past part of your life and awaken a memory that you could share?

“Through the unknown, remembered gate

When the last of earth left to discover

Is that which was the beginning;

At the source of the longest river

The voice of the hidden waterfall

And the children in the apple-tree

Not known, because not looked for

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness

Between two waves of the sea.”