The images from all over the world have left me with a craving to go away. This is nothing new for me, I love travel but that intense longing to be in different surroundings, to be on the move and experience the new all the time reminded me of one of my absolute favourite poems.
Ithaca, by Constantine P. Cavafy. Read it here: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ithaca/
(In case you wondered (as I did when I first read this), the Laistrygonians are an ancient mythical Greek tribe of cannibals)
When I read this, I think of Ithaca as a symbol for life itself, and all the places I want to go to along the way. The emphasis here is all about the journey, not the destination: 'ask that your way be long' is repeated, and the reader is advised not to hurry but to appreciate the experience, be satiated in joy, in newness ('ports seen for the first time') and in learning ('gather knowledge from the learned'). These are the things I love about travel, the expansion of the mind, the improvement in understanding of the world and its people. There is so much to see and do and we're only here for such a short time; when my desire to make the most of this and get out is so intense, I sometimes find it hard to relate to people who have no desire to experience anything other than their own immediate surroundings.
The references to the Laistrygonians, Cyclops and Poseidon are metaphors for fear, in my reading of this poem: they can be present if you let them, and sure, there's lots in the world to be terrified of - but you can't let it hold you back. 'You will not meet them unless you carry them in your soul'. Let your approach not be dominated by anxiety or the fear of threat, but by all the wonder you can experience.
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