A picture can say a thousand words but words paint a picture.

Words are like a boat allowing you to sail through those majestic waters to lands, which are alien to ones tongue and the mere thought of their existence.
Voyages, which take you to discover love, adventure, war, friendship, history, horror…

It all began under those warm sheets and bedside lamps. The dulcet voice of my mother reading fairytales as I am whisked away to kingdoms of princesses and princes.

To the flight on the Numbus2000, flying to the world of magic. Where Hogwarts became more than home to the Harry Potter but gave me the front seat of a war between good and evil. Wandering through the corridors of Hogwarts and casting spells against Death Eaters and finally battling Lord Voldemort. The friendships, the love and loyalty, sent feelings of nostalgia through my veins as I read the last page.

To the classic tales, of love breaking social boundaries like Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth from the famous Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. To the land behind the Wardrobe, Narnia- Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. To the glass elevator and the lyrical umpalumpas in Charlie And The Chocolate factory to the remarkably intelligent girl Matilda and many other titles too, Roald Dahl. As Bilbo disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin, Frodo, the Ruling Ring, and a perilous quest: to journey across the Middle-earth to destroy the ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom, Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Not forgetting the Infamous Mr. William Shakespeare, which I might add I was forced into reading, but is a legend in English literature which we explored the deaths of Star-crossed lovers being kept apart by fate and eventually leading to the pinnacle of a feud unknown to its Peacekeepers where death of loved ones becomes a gesture of a truce Or the vaulting ambition which drove a noble man to committing acts of immoral stature, Macbeth. Or Lord Janus of Elizabethan society (Iago) that ultimately planted seeds of delusion in the Barbary Christ (Othello) taking lives of those who were of collateral damage to its diabolical game maker in his cunning yet monstrous Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games trilogy the more recent to my library explores the theme of war in an attempt to enlighten a young mind with stirring bit of love. It provides I very vivid perspective of teenager faced at becoming the face of a rebellion. After defying the countries leaders leads the country into low ebb. Where she is confronted by circumstances faced by many today, the relatable and valiant character of Katniss.

‘The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page’ – well one can definitely understand the literal meaning to this quotation. However as I stare and this acidic white page I try to comprehend what does it mean to me? …

Does it mean that if I do not venture out in to sub- Sahara desert on camel back or take an intrepid journey in to the amazon ‘ I have read only a page’???

Well the only idea I seemed to fathom was, as I wish to amend the statement “Books are the World, those who don’t read do not travel.” As this idea begins to spin an empowering web in my brain- a connection is made. If it were not for the fairytale happy endings, perilous journeys, qudditch games, tragic heroes and worlds of fantasy, the world would be filled with cardboard cutouts – no personality figures roaming the earth. There would be no stories to let young readers imaginations stretch to the horizons or optimists hoping for the fairy tale ending waiting for prince charming to sweep them of their feet. Well if were not for authors then I don’t really see a world of possibility. So to those books and people that I spent endless nights reading, dreaming and constantly discovering is the profound reason to why I call myself a ...Tourist!!