I've been following the geographical movements of people for many years as part of the work I do. In the last five years especially, I have joined many migrations & pilgrimages across the world as part of a wider project on the subject.
I believe that the urge to travel is deeply etched within in the genes of every single one of us. In fact, I have no doubt that this is one of the main reasons that we have become so successful as a species, having now colonised almost every conceivable environment on the planet.
Of course, this genetic success has come at a price as we now appear to be facing a number of major problems with the environment that sustains the lives of us all.
What I find interesting however is that mother nature doesn't appear to care about these problems. In fact, by successfully exporting our species around the globe we are only doing what she originally programmed us to do two hundred thousand odd years ago when we were compelled to make our first steps out of Africa into the wider world of planet earth.
So, I find the current state of the world an inevitable consequence of the natural desire for life to survive and thrive. I believe that historically, given the same genetic advantage, any other species on the planet would have eventually found themselves in the same situation that we now find ourselves in.
. . .
I am optimistic about our future in this world. I know that's not a very fashionable idea these days but I believe in the incredible problem solving capabilities of us humans.
Sure, by solving one problem we normally create another, but this is one of the fundamental cycles of life as far as I'm concerned and I believe that as a species we will rectify all the predicaments we currently find ourselves facing as well as many, many more in our shared futures to come.
The urge to travel is innate