"Travel is both a physical and a mental exercise - it is about immersing yourself in another culture. Travelling is the process of letting go of yourself and immersing yourself into different ways of knowing and seeing. If you cannot do this, you haven’t travelled. It’s certainly not a holiday - travelling is not staying in five-star hotels."
"bn Battutah ... took a great amount of time trying to understand them [foreign cultures]. He treated each culture on its own terms, and didn’t impose his own values on them. I think that’s very important for any traveller - if you want to learn from a different culture, then you have to treat it with equality and respect. Only then will that culture become available to you. If you go there with too many of your own preconceptions, then you will limit your experience.
Ziauddin Sardar, Professor of Postcolonial Studies at City University, London
Five Books Interviews: Ziauddin Sardar on Travel in the Muslim World
Do you have travel plans? In depth or touristy? As each year goes by I have more time and money to travel and less inclination. Heavy sigh.
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