It is a not uncommon devotion of the elderly (and the rich) to preoccupy themselves with limitless travel throughout the globe. Seemingly there is a race by those who putatively have the most to lose to see everything, everywhere before time runs out. The more exotic the adventure, the more exquisite it is retailed. The prescription far outdistances any chat about getting to know whatever is at hand. By comparison, armchair philosophy is viewed as utterly exhausting (even though it nourished some of society’s most strategic logicians and empiricists, the likes of David Hume and René Descartes). Indeed the more remote the travel venue, the more challenging the familiarity and very often the more expensive the enterprise, the better. There is a perception conveyed when talking to these labouring vagabonds that the Holy Grail (or some other equally nebulous goal) is always within reach.
