Literary Travel

FROM CLASSICAL PURSUITS

Take a Literary Travel based vacation

"I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within."
~Lillian Smith

Classical Pursuits trips differ from other literary travel opportunities where information about an author's life and works is conveyed to travellers via lectures by experts. Like others, we do use experts to talk to us and to guide us through the settings of the works we are studying.

But what distinguishes our literary travel from others are our commitment to great (as opposed to popular) literature and the central role of in-depth discussion. We take literature seriously. We assume that that great literature is always new, always contemporary, always relevant-that it can transform our view of ourselves and the world. We are far less interested in who had influence on our author or whom she or he, in turn, influenced than we are in what authors have to say; even, perhaps, teach us.

As former president of St. John's College, John Agresto states in his wonderful essay, "Getting the Most out of Literature," "We should all try to learn from books, not just about books."

We, too, have all the other features of quality literary trips: easy guided walks to immerse ourselves in the cultural and natural history of a place, informal talks about the context of our inquiry, generous free time, exceedingly convivial company, and, of course, wonderful meals. We metaphorically don special lenses to focus on that time period when our work is set, be it the Roman Republic, Paris in the Twenties, or Victorian London.

People report that they come to see and know a place they have visited many times in a new and far deeper way. But, above all, it is the chance to grapple with the soul of a great author in the company of others that Classical Pursuits travelers value most.

Please browse the variety of our literary travel opportunities.