Hope the road is a long one. Many may the summer mornings be when-with what pleasure, with what joy- you first put in to harbors new to your eyes; may you stop at Phoenician trading posts and there acquire the finest wares: mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony, as many heady perfumes as you can. Many Egyptian cities may you visit that you may learn, and go on learning, from their sages.

Always in your mind keep Ithaca. To arrive there is your destiny. But do not hurry your trip in any way. Better that it last for many years; that you drop anchor at the island an old man, rich with all you’ve gotten on the way, not expecting Ithaca to make you rich. Ithaca gave you the beautiful journey; without her you wouldn’t have set upon the road. But now she has nothing left to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca didn’t deceive you. As wise as you will have become, with so much experience, you will understand, by then, these Itahacas; what they mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 – 1933)