By Way of Castor: A Prairie Boy’s Journey Across Six Continents
Looking back on a life that has taken me from the prairies of Alberta to the Arctic ice, from the deserts of Niger to the mountains of Kenya, I am often asked what I have learned from all those years of travel. The answer is simple: almost every person on Earth is fair, honest, helpful, and affable. I did not always know this. As a boy in Castor, Alberta, I was skeptical of the wider world. But travel has a way of breaking down barriers. Here are a few moments that changed my perspective. One night in rural Japan, I arrived at a train station, wet and cold. I found a small Japanese inn. The man on duty gave me a dry kimono and a room. He returned later and waved his hand up and down, which I mistook for a signal to lie down and sleep. The next morning, I learned that he had prepared a meal for me and was inviting me to join him. In the Orient, waving an extended arm up and down means "come" or "follow." I had made a cultural mistake, but the man's kindness...