That’s the working title of my new book due out in March. Too wordy perhaps?
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I’m kidding, of course. Television shows like 1000 Places to See Before You Die and the books that inspire them really make my teeth itch. Over at World Hum, Frank Bures has scratched the thin, glossy veneer of enough “1001 Places/Things/People to See/Do/Visit/Check Off Before You Die” books to explain why:
At the heart of each of these books is a promise: In a world of so many places to go, of so many choices, here are the ones that count. Here are the ones that will make your life worth living.
This is an empty promise. You won’t find the journey of a lifetime in any of the places in these books. In fact, you won’t find the journey of a lifetime in any place. You could pick any handful of locations and go there expecting to simply be transformed, to suddenly feel as if you had truly lived. But if you do, I think you’re bound to be disappointed. Because the checklist approach to travel misses the point. Because no matter how many places you check off your list, they won’t magically change your life. You could just find 500 ways to waste your money, or 1,000 colossal wastes of time.
I could quote his entire smart, pithy piece here, but I believe they call that plagiarizing. Check out the full post here.