Though still several weeks away, I am very, very excited about planning for our next big vacation—this time to explore a bit of Norway, and the maiden voyage of our new camper van. And there is definitely something too about being about to plot one's own course that is only gotten through driving. I have been studying quite a bit about the history and culture of the place and find it interesting how the more attention that one pays to a subject (parallel to the car we are waiting to take possession of, which seems to be on the road everywhere right now) happenings and coincidence seem to coalesce and get in the spot-light.
Though I am sure that the majesty of nature, one of the chief things to find out, is something immediate, I suspect that knowing at least a little of the historical and cultural context of a destination (or a whole string of them) infinitely contributes, beyond the facts and the figures and preparedness, to the whole grand experience of discovery and reconciling the unexpected.
