Geographic locations, the built environment, physical space and the surrounding world of objects have long captivated me and weighed heavily in my life and career long attempts to understand people.

This is not to deny the centrality of the inner world of emotions, motives, thoughts,attitudes and expectations that we carry about with us, like the contents of a suitcase, as we navigate our way about the perplexing, ever changing, surrounding world. But we tend to underestimate the importance of the tangible world as an influence on much of what we do.

One kind of navigational path is that taken when we travel or vacation to destinations removed and different from “ Home ”. We carry with us, that “subjective suitcase” together with it’s contents, amongst our other luggage. Travel and vacation places are given emphasis within this book because we are more open minded and attentive to novelty on such occasions, whereas, at “Home”, the things with which we are surrounded generally are taken for granted. But all places can and do have powerful
effects upon us.


The stories in this blog series have one common central theme: How places, frequently, without our awareness, permeate and come to inhabit us, influence our perceptions and ultimately alter our behavior. At a time in our history when “Environmental Pollution” and “Global Warming” have been coming to the forefront of national and international attention there is a widespread amnesia regarding the more benign, the more exhilarating, the more life enhancing aspects of the environment.