I tend to conceptualize travel as a form of active study. Growth and understanding easily result when one is open to new experiences and ways of perceiving the world, if only one is willing to step beyond the self for but a moment. Sometimes, the adventures of travel serve most importantly as reminders that there is far more to the Cosmos than that of which we are readily aware. A recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was one such event for me. Watching the elegant and ethereal movement of these spotted jellies, it is impossible not to take solace in the vastness of what remains to be understood beyond my narrow scope of what is known.
