The Ethics of Travel

Throughout the poem, the speaker reflects on what motivates a person to set out from home in the first place, and whether travel is a worthwhile endeavor. She largely does this by asking a series of questions that prompt ethical considerations about travel. By never arriving at an objective answer, the speaker highlights the ambiguity involved in travel.

The speaker’s reflections on travel begin in the second stanza when she instructs the reader to “Think of the long trip home” (13). The word “long” evokes both the physical distance and inconvenience involved in returning to wherever one considers home. This implies that should travelers return home, they will not be the same individuals they were when they set out. In other words, travel can irrevocably change a person.

When the speaker uses the word “should” in her questions, she introduces the notion of...