Gavin Young wrote in his autobiography that the following quote from Joseph Conrad’s ‘Youth’ is a stunning invocation to travel and adventure.  I heartily concur.

“And this is how I see the East.  I see it always from a small boat…  I have the feel of the oar in my hand… And I see a bay, a wide bay, smooth as glass and polished like ice, shimmering in the dark.  A red light burns far off upon the gloom of the land, and the night is soft and warm.  We drag at the oars with aching arms, and suddenly a puff of wind comes out of the still night – the first sigh of the East on my face.  That I can never forget.”