{"id":278,"date":"2011-05-26T13:17:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T13:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=278"},"modified":"2011-05-26T13:17:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-26T13:17:58","slug":"reading-like-viagra-for-wanderlust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=278","title":{"rendered":"Reading: Like Viagra for Wanderlust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having\u00a0recently read\u00a0Alexandre Dumas’ classic, The Count of Monte Cristo, <\/em>I’ve found myself longing to go to Marseilles and Southern France\u00a0like never before.\u00a0 As I read the portion of the book which was set in Paris, I\u00a0reflected on my brief stroll down Champs\u00a0d’Elysees\u00a0– imagining myself there again, but in a different age and setting.\u00a0 Reading is a powerful aphrodisiac to wanderlust\u00a0and an insightful\u00a0companion to travel.<\/p>\n

Now I find myself\u00a0in Envigado, Medellin Colombia,\u00a0the former hometown of Pablo Escobar, the man who owns the distinction of being once listed seventh on the list of richest men in the world (1989), and first on the list of most wanted international criminals.<\/p>\n

Pablo built an enviable drug kingdom on thuggery and ruthlessness.\u00a0 He owned submarines, jets, businesses, elaborate retreats with exotic animals and every luxury.\u00a0 His wealth, at one time, was estimated at $9 billion.\u00a0He ordered men dead on a daily, if not hourly, basis.\u00a0 He built a web of protection through a policy of “plata\u00a0o plomo” – either take his silver (bribes) or take his lead (monogrammed bullets).<\/p>\n

But it all crumbled when he was killed in 1993 in\u00a0a battle with the Colombian task force specifically assigned to bring him down and staffed and supported by virtually every intelligence force\u00a0in the United States.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The story of his rise and fall was chronicled by Mark Bowden in the book, Killing Pablo.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/em>Reading it as I occupy the neighborhood from whence he staged his operations was like having a knowledgable\u00a0tour guide in my pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taxi rides have become much more interesting as I probe older drivers for details about Pablo and his life.\u00a0 We took a ride up to the hill – la catedral –\u00a0where he built himself a “prison” to appease Colombian officials… nothing remains but ruins, but traversing the switchbacks, I imagined Pablo’s sicarios <\/em>(hitmen) descending on a mission assigned by Don Pablo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Now I’ve embarked upon a new travel\/reading journey as I read The History of Latin America <\/em>by Marshall C. Eakin.\u00a0 Because Central America and the Caribbean have been my playground over the past few years, I’ve gained an affinity for the stories of conquest and collaboration by the people and characters\u00a0who\u00a0set the framework for\u00a0what Latin America is today.<\/p>\n

I have a few more travel\/reading experiences that I’ll share in the future, but if there’s any combination you’ve found pleasure in, please let us know.\u00a0 Below are a few links with ideas, and if you’re traveling somewhere and you’d like an idea of something to read, let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ricksteves.com\/graffiti\/graffiti108.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/travel\/artsandculture\/travelbooks\/4932008\/The-20-best-travel-books-of-all-time.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.concierge.com\/cntraveler\/articles\/11341<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having\u00a0recently read\u00a0Alexandre Dumas’ classic, The Count of Monte Cristo, I’ve found myself longing to go to Marseilles and Southern France\u00a0like never before.\u00a0 As I read the portion of the book which was set in Paris, I\u00a0reflected on my brief stroll … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1DhXV-4u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}