There is nothing like exploring a new foreign city. Experiencing Athens today was a mesmerizing masterpiece of an experience. The streets spiral in unexpected directions, the sounds of Greek spill out from seemingly everywhere, and the mountaintops peek through rows of buildings, all under the close and shadowing watch of the Acropolis.
Athens, the combination of antiquity and modernity, with all of its remains and ruins dating back to the Bronze Age, 1300 B.C., came alive for me today, with my Grecian frappe in hand. Walking the ruins of the Acropolis and through archeological dig sites (with my brother who has a doctorate of archeology by my side), opened my eyes to just how much digging and work it takes to get to the heart of something, and of just how valuable that digging is. Today, I stood where Paul of Taursus, Plato, Socrates, and Perikles stood. Today I was reminded of just how deep history goes, and it made me yearn for more within myself.
Travel of any type just exactly that: it makes your mores become bigger and your past seem young. Exploring should never stop, whether we are exploring a new city, a new land, a new sport, or a new part of ourselves. Dig deep within your own world and within yourself to discover how to push past your own limitations, beliefs, and experiences.