O The Places the Renaissance Mind Will Go!

While looking for a link between all the texts which we have read so far in Colloquium II I noticed that there seems to be a great need for adventure and different kinds of travel. The Renaissance mind seems to be drawn to different and new places- even if they are in a different time period or continent. Petrarch was almost obsessed with the exotic world which existed in ancient times. He himself also found the need for travel- visiting much of his modern world. The Decameron is not devoid of travel or sense of adventure. Although these travels are not often very exotic, they do often emote a sense of adventure. Sir John Mandeville's tale is clearly the most adventurous of all the writings we have encountered so far. The subject of the work is the traveling itself and it takes the reader to places far beyond the average Renaissance person's mind or experiences.

Is a sense of travel and adventure truly close to the Renaissance heart?It does appear that the two go hand in hand in the quest for the search of what it means to be human. Furthermore, people of the time enjoyed a good time just as much as we do ( if The Decameron is an indication at all) and thus sought after different forms of entertainment. It is true that travel stories do usually provide for decent entertainment and are a good basis for a story. Lastly, I think of the HUSTers and their views on traveling. In our liberal arts education and quest to become the ultimate Renaissance women must of us go abroad and value it as an integral part of our educational experience. Learning how to be connected to our past and the great ancient ways of western tradition.

Thus, traveling is much more about the process of self-discovery than arriving at a physical destination. This is just as true as was in the Reniassance as it is today!