We Travel Because We’re Human by Alex Franciosa

I’ll never get tired of watching a sunset. Recently, however, I’ve been trying to figure out why sunsets are so beautiful to me. Being on this trip has helped me do that.

When traveling, it’s easy to get caught up in the itinerary: what time to leave, where to go, where to eat—people often find vacations to be more stressful than being at home. Subsequently, they spend so much time worrying that they miss what’s important, which is why it’s necessary to take time to reflect, especially in a country like Greece.

Something our professor kept stressing was the history of where we were, but he wasn’t talking about who built what temple in which year. Instead, it’s the fact that when standing in complete silence and looking at the Aegean sea from the Temple of Poseidon, you can begin to feel the weight of everyone that’s been there. All the people on ships returning from wars, journeys, day trips. People working, fishing, getting lost, falling in love. You could probably name every human experience and it happened right there. Realizing this is one reason why traveling is so important.



We take for granted the names that lasted, the ones we learn about at historical sites and archaeological museums. We know the names Plato and Pythagoras so well that we can forget most people will go through their lives without doing anything that will be remembered in 2,000 years. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that by ourselves and in the grand scheme of things, we are insignificant.

Despite our insignificance, what makes us important is that we are part of humanity. The ancient Greeks recognized that, and they lived their lives accordingly. They saw the necessity of art, literature, philosophy and reason in our lives because that’s who we are. Life is more than a job, and we are going to die, so we need to make the most of the time we have by pursuing our talents and passions. This is also why mythology and literature were so prevalent in Ancient Greek society; they tell the whole truth, while history—and even our own senses—can lie. Being in this mindset for 10 days is completely overwhelming and terrifying, but it’s also eye-opening.



Traveling to Greece has helped me realize that when I look at a sunset, to me it is beautiful because for thousands of years, it’s been the same. It’s beautiful because I am only one of the billions of people who have marveled at it, or thought about their lives while watching it, or completely ignored it. In this moment, I don’t have to think about how it came to be or how it will end. Just as Aristotle and Homer and Pericles and Archimedes and Hercules did, I can experience it.


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Location:Greece