British poet Hilaire Belloc; Photo by Emil Otto Hoppé in the Public Domain.
“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.”
– Hilaire Belloc
French-British writer and poet Hilaire Belloc is known chiefly for historical essays and children’s books. However, his poetry covers subjects as diverse as zoology, religion, wine, and politics, often with keen humor:
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.
(From “Epitaph on the Politician Himself”.)
Hilaire traveled extensively, and gained some fame as a travel writer as well. The Path to Rome, an account of a walking pilgrimage he made from central France across the Alps and down to Rome, has been remained continuously in print since first it was first published in 1902.
Among his writings is this timeless quote that most travelers can embrace and identify with:
I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
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About the Photo
This is the drive up to the Kinnitty Castle in County Offaly, Ireland. The castle is nestled in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and dates back to the 13th Century. The current version of the castle was rebuilt in 1928, and is now a 37 room luxury hotel. Read more of Kinnitty Castle’s long history at Kinnitty Castle Hotel. (Photo by TravelLatte)
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