Consider this quote by Hilaire Belloc: “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.”

At first I saved this quote because I liked the concept of travel being fulfilling. Then I wondered, “And who is Hilaire Belloc?” According to Wikipedia:

“Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953) was a French-born writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He is most notable for his Roman Catholic faith, which had an impact on most all of his writing.”

As I read more about Belloc, I learned that his meaning of “fulfillment” differs from mine. If something is fulfilling, it is both life affirming AND life changing. This led me to looking up the definition of and synonyms for fullfilled.

Here are some synonyms from dictionary.com: accomplished, achieved, actualized, attained, brought about, brought to a close, carried out, compassed, concluded, consummated, crowned, delighted, dispatched, effected, effectuated, executed, finished, gratified, made good, matured, obtained, perfected, performed, pleased, put into effect, reached, realized, satisfied.

Okay, are you still with me? Next thought that entered my head was that Belloc supported a type of capitalism popular in the Middle Ages and wanted to return to that. Is returning to the past fulfilling (using my definition of “life changing)? Next thought: Am I able to like a quote but not the quoter? Next thought: I don’t think I like this quote after. It sounds elitist, snobbish. Why can’t one travel for both distraction and fulfillment?

Oh my God, I’ve had way too much coffee this morning!