My blog will, hopefully, serve two purposes.  The first is to describe the various travels I have enjoyed, survived, recommended.  The second is the love of books I have enjoyed, survived, recommended.  My two favorite activities  have given immeasurable benefits in pleasurable education.  When I taught Senior English, my favorite mantra for learning new vocabulary was read, read, read.  Reading can also teach geography, history, religion, social mores as well as give enjoyment. Emily Dickinson never left her small hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts, yet, says, "I never saw a moor, I never saw the sea; Yet know I how the heather looks, And what a wave must be." John Keats believed anticipation better than reality in Ode on a Grecian Urn: "Hear melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter."  But, I disagree when it comes to seeing what you have been reading about. Like a seeing movie after reading a book(if it is done properly and follows the plot faithfully).  If you have read a great book like To Kill a Mockingbird, then seen it translated into Gregory Peck facing a rabid dog coming toward his family with his shotgun, knowing he has time for only one shot, firing and seeing the dog drop, or reading The Help and watching the Oscar nominated Octavia Spencer, as a black maid who loses her job, getting revenge and assuring Miss Hilly will never reveal the novel is about her and her friends by taking a chocolate pie to Miss Hilly, the town racist and snooty ringleader.  We watch as Miss Hilly has two pieces .  Priceless! 
 
Of course, the reverse order is equally effective.  Visiting a location spurs interest in reading authors or listening to music from the location.  "Yes, you say. I have seen the beauty of Jamaica and listened to the reggae music pouring forth from every open doorway, and now I listen to Bob Marley and know where he comes from and what influenced him."  Reading and travelling.  What two better ways to learn and enjoy the process.