The Royal Road to Romance

       A few weeks ago, I finished reading The Royal Road to Romance, by Richard Halliburton. It is really a pity that most people have never even heard of Richard Halliburton, because he really was an amazing explorer and author! Halliburton was born to a well-off family who had high hopes of his education and future job, but Halliburton thought otherwise. After graduating college, he realized that what he really wanted was to "Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you. Be afraid of nothing. There is such a little time that your youth will last- such a little time." (Oscar Wilde) Halliburton, so tired of a boring an uneventful life, was ready to find his joy in exploration and adventure. In fact, the dedication to Halliburton's book reads:

To

Irvine Oty Hockday

John Henry Leh

Edward Lawrence Keyes

James Penfield Seiberling

Whose sanity, consistency and respectability as

Princeton roommates drove me to this book.

       So, Richard collected all his personal belongings and began to explore the world. For many years, Richard traveled the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and everywhere in between! He wrote numerous books, including The Book of Marvels, The Glorious Adventure, The Flying Carpet, and The Royal Road to Romance. In the year of 1939, Richard set out on his final adventure. One clear morning, he attempted to sail a Chinese junk that he had crafted in China with a small crew. The junk took off, but it never came back. Halliburton died in a fierce sea storm, unprotected against the fury of the ocean. The story of his death (remarkably similar to Amelia Earhart's) is incredibly sad. America not only lost a great explorer when he died, but an amazing author, who has forever changed the world of geography. Halliburton writes with a touch that is not common in geography books. His books are full of life and pictures drawn with words. Even though they are educational, they are also immensely enjoyable. That, I  believe, is Richard's legacy: descriptive, beautiful books that are informative and interesting. His books are not only works of geography, but works of literature.

       I have written a creative, first-person summary of Richard Halliburton's The Royal Road to Romance as a small tribute to the amazing work that he has contributed to the world of literature and geography. You can access it here: file:///C:/Users/antca/Documents/School/Year%209%20School/Term%202/A%20First-Person%20Summary%20of%20Richard%20Halliburton%E2%80%99s%20The%20Royal%20Road%20to%20Romance,%20Chapters%207-37.pdf

As always, here are a few of my favorite quotes from The Royal Road to Romance:

“Let those who wish have their respectability- I wanted freedom, freedom to indulge in whatever caprice struck my fancy, freedom to search in the farthermost corners of the earth for the beautiful, the joyous, and the romantic."

"[On the Matterhorn] There is not a mountain left in all Switzerland that has not been scaled, so that the joy of being the first to stand upon some formidable peak which only the eagles knew before has passed forever. But there is almost as much joy in being the tenth or the hundredth. Familiarity can never breed contempt for such vast and beautiful peaks and valleys as these. The rivers bound over the rocks with just the same abandon now as a thousand years ago. The wine-like air from the snow and pines in not less exhilarating. The charm of the Alps will never die; for where else may one find nature as spectacular, yet as serene, as in these her favorite mountains?

It is charm below the snow line; it is fierce joy above, fierce joy to stand at dawn on the supremacy of some soaring crag and see the amber clearness of the jagged horizon grow in intensity, to scale such peaks as the Matterhorn, surrounded by a sea of mountains, with nothing to indicate that you are in the heart of civilized Europe rather than some Greenland waste. One finds a stimulation here unknown elsewhere- a feeling of having attained unto another, higher life, unto another world, a world made not of land and sea, but of crystal air, and sky, and snow, and space. It all sent a surge through our hearts."

Amelia Earhart | Setting Your Own Goals

       Over one-hundred years ago, Wilbur and Orville Wright built the first plane that sparked the imagination of the whole country, including one little girl from Kansas, whose name was Amelia Earhart. Outgoing, cheerful, and committed, Amelia was loved all over the world because of her determination and heartfelt love for her craft: aviation. Amelia Earhart was a truly heroic woman, overcoming gender barriers, and standing up for what she knew was right. Her actions have inspired hundreds of people, and her work was truly a blessing to the aviation field. 

       Amelia was born to Edwin and Amy Earhart on July 24, 1827. She was born in Atchison, Kansas, were she lived with her grandparents until she was about 12, when her father (who had recently lost his job due to drinking problems) got a new job in Des Moines. After a somewhat tumultuous childhood, Amelia graduated in 1916. She attended a finishing school for a few years, and then went to a nursing school, thinking that she would one day become an army nurse. However, that dream was cut short when Amelia went to her first airshow. At this airshow, Amelia was allowed to ride in the plane. The thrill of flying (which must really be astonishing to someone who has never seen a commercial airplane or helicopter!) immediately convinced her that flying was her dream, and she set about to realize it. Amelia bought a Lockheed Electra (which she named The Canary) and began flying lessons with Neta Snook. 

       So began Amelia's flying career that eventually made her famous. During her lifetime, Amelia was the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo, she set the women's altitude record of 14,000 feet, she set the women's record speed of 181 miles per hour, and she was the first woman to make a solo round-trip flight of the US. Though some of these things sound trivial in the light of today's accomplishments, they were huge milestones for pilots in the twentieth century. "Lady Lindy" as she was called, was universally respected and loved. 

       One cool March morning of 1937, Amelia and her copilot, Fred Noonan, set out to circumnavigate a flight around the world. Crowds cheered as they took off. However, they had only flown about two-thirds of the way before the unfortunate partners lost connection with local coast guards and, supposedly, crash landed into a pacific island. No one really knows what happened to Amelia, though, and her hapless death is a mystery to us all.
        Amelia Earhart had a tough life. Her father was unable to support his family, and, as a result, she often had to step in and help out. She never had much money for flying lessons or her own plane. She had numerous trials and battles to fight in her life, but notwithstanding, she accomplished her dreams. Not only did Amelia perform some amazing aerial feats in her own age, she also overcame many boundaries that were setbacks in the day. Though today women can do anything that they want, in Amelia's time, gender prejudices and the fact that not much was known about flying greatly held some people back. She refused to let gender restriction rules confine her dreams, though. She refused to agree that some things just couldn't be done, gender restrictions set aside(she was the first person to fly solo). I think that the reason that Amelia succeeded is because she set her own goals. She chose not to listen to the negative voices surrounding her, and instead she just set her own personal goals, and achieved them. I think that this is a really crucial part of succeeding in anything that we want to do. If we set our own goals, not worrying about what other people will think of them, our chances of success will be higher, and we can spend more time enjoying our passion and doing the things that we love.

Some of my favorite quotes from Amelia Earhart:

"Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?"

"The most effective way to do it is to do it."

"Experiment!... By adventuring, you become accustomed to the unexpected. The unexpected then becomes what it really is- the inevitable."

"No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves."

More Poems From My Commonplace Book - The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller

Hey everyone! A couple of months ago, I finished the autobiography of Helen Keller's life, The Story of my Life. The book is actually pretty short, as it only covers the first twenty or so years of her life, and I was able to finish it in about a month. While I was reading it, I highlighted some of my favorite passages and put them into my commonplace book (which you can read about here). I really enjoyed this book, and I would highly recommend it as not only an interesting story, but a really inspiring story of how deafness and blindness can't stop God from reaching out to people. His love is unstoppable! I hope you enjoy these quotes!

"There is nothing more beautiful, I think, than the evanescent fleeting images and sentiments presented by a language one is just becoming familiar with--ideas that flit across the mental sky, shaped and tinted by capricious fancy."

"Such knowledge floods the soul unseen with a soundless tidal wave of deepening thought. 'Knowledge is power.' Rather, knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge--broad, deep knowledge--is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man's progress is to feel the great heart-throbs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life."

"The one I felt and still feel most is lack of time. I used to have time to think, to reflect, my mind and I. We would sit together of an evening and listen to the inner melodies of the spirit, which one hears only in leisure moments when the words of some loved poet touch a deep, sweet chord in the soul that until then had been silent."

"The story of Ruth, too--how Oriental it is! Yet how different is the life of these simple country folks from that of the Persian capital! Ruth is so loyal and gentle-hearted, we cannot help loving her, as she stands with the reapers amid the waving corn. Her beautiful, unselfish spirit shines out like a bright star in the night of a dark and cruel age. Love like Ruth's, love which can rise above conflicting creeds and deep-seated racial prejudices, is hard to find in all the world.

The Bible gives me a deep, comforting sense that 'things seen are temporal, and things unseen are eternal.' "

The Minoans

Oxford First Ancient History

On the island of Crete, which lies in the Mediterranean sea there lives a long lost kingdom, the kingdom of Minos. Knossos, Crete’s palace, was built by Minos. Minos was said to own a terrifying bull-man. Every year he would send his ships to Greece. When the captains arrived at Greece, they would demand 7 young girls and 7 young men to enter Minos' labyrinth. When the Grecians found the middle of the maze, the bull-man would be there, waiting to devour the poor victims.We do not know if this really ever happened, but we do know, that there was a king Minos, and there was a great, twisting winding, huge palace, Knossos. Remains have been dug up, they show that Crete really was an amazing place. Houses, built from stone and brick dotted the busy roads. Beautiful pottery has been found that has pictures of dolphins, fish, and octopus on it. The great palace Knossos has even been rebuilt! This palace is a true amazement! With about one thousand rooms, Knossos itself is a maze! Bathrooms, throne rooms, bedrooms, dressing rooms, and many others made up Minos’ breath-taking palace! But enough about the place, let us talk of the people, the Minoans were a very happy busy people, who loved to bull wrestle, dance, sing, etc. the men wore kilts, fastened with a rope at the waist, and the girls wore frontless shirts with long skirts. They had varying occupations, from weavers and merchants, to fishers and farmers, each Minoan was kept busy. Crete must have been a very interesting place, and I am very exited to learn more about it!

The Incas

Book of Marvels

Dear Priestesses,

You do not know me, but I am a friend, an Inca citizen. I was in Machu Picchu, Peru, when the Spaniards attacked, and saw you flee. I have no idea why the Spaniards took over, but there is a rumor that all they wanted was our gold. I am amazed at the Spaniard’s greed of gold. Why, they seemed amazed that we use it commonly! The metal is widely used here because we have so much of it. Priestesses, the reason I call is to tell you that Machu Picchu, our city of granite that equals the Aztecs in greatness, is in great danger, the Spaniards are in war mode, they are killing everyone, you left just in time! However, I doubt if you will remain hidden for long. Why if the Spaniards were able to find the trail, you would be ruined! So, I advise you to be on the lookout, and take great care of yourselves. I am too, fleeing the country. Sadly, I do not think that I will be able to make my escape, for I have started quite late. Right now I look back on Machu Picchu, our city of gold gleams in the sunset, the shining granite reflects the light, making it even brighter, a golden light on our mountain. Praise the sun-god! Let him grant me a safe journey! But here, I must end, for I see the Spaniards following closely. Travel safely, and may the sun-god always be with you!

Until we meet again,

A Loving Friend