A little less than half way through the book, a chapter ends with these sentences. “To travel alone, I’d learned, isn’t to rely on yourself. To travel alone is to force yourself to depend on others. It is to fall in love with mankind.” Those three sentences not only made want to keep reading but also said things to me that made me want to start traveling more. I would look back at travels I have taken and see them differently.

Having a forestry background, I felt that there is a lot to be said for looking past the job creation and instantaneous economic impact of many things. I likened the Keystone XL to fracking in my community or those near me. Did it bring jobs? Yes but many were filled by outsiders and definitely the higher paying ones were filled by company men from out of the area. It also brought more restaurant use, higher rents and other impacts. Does that make it good? No but it doesn’t necessarily make it bad either.

To wrap up the book, this quote says it all. “And as E. O. Wilson might say, let’s not save the world for the sake of saving the world. Let’s try to save it for the sake of saving ourselves.”

Definitely give this book a read.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book through Penguin’s First to Read program. I was not required to review or otherwise recommend the book. Thoughts are, as always, my own.