Oh, to be 23, free and on the road. To be able to travel around the world...AND, get this...to have a newspaper pay for it? Or at least, have them publish regular articles while you travel. Such is the life right now of 23-year old Haley Edwards, a world-weary gal, apparently fresh (or near so) from college and sharing her thoughts about the world with others.

Now, I could make all sorts of nasty quips here about how youth is wasted on the young, but that would certainly be an expression of envy. Those of us who also traveled in our youth for long periods know that being on the road is about as healthy an experience as exists for mind body and spirit. So good for young Haley.

Let's see where young Haley went:

Haley's stated purpose is to go to places that scare her. That places her first and foremost in Egypt with a camel named Michael Jackson <insert poor-taste hump joke here>, and then on to Israel, Jordan Kashmir andIndia.

And so it goes. The pieces here (though I confess I didn't read them all, are thoughtful enough for a 23-year old. Needless to say, for most of us the joy of reading them comes from the vicarious remembrance of our own past travels. We are glad for Haley, but we read and hope and wonder if we, too, will be able to set out upon the world again someday so free and innocent and hopeful.

Naw, I doubt it.

Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, Learning, Stories, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Antarctica, India, Israel, Jordan, United States