--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I read; I travel; I become" description: "\"I read; I travel; I become\" — Derek Walcott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg" --- # I read; I travel; I become ![“I read; I travel; I become” quote by Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg) > “I read; I travel; I become” [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading, travel, and experience shape personal identity and worldview. **In simple terms:** Travel and reading transform you. Key Takeaway Seek experiences to grow. Themes identity travel learning Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - tourism - personal development Key Concepts self‑actualization cultural immersion Questions to Reflect On - What new perspective have you gained from travel? - How does reading influence your actions? A Different Perspective Experiences alone may not guarantee growth without reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Inspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspire/) [Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read/) [Read Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-travel-714280/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Never trust anything you read in a travel article.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/never-trust-anything-you-read-in-a-travel-article/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [We read, we travel, we become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/we-read-we-travel-we-become/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I find it an absolute pleasure to read travel guides, especially the Michelin guides, and their description of places I know I'll probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-find-it-an-absolute-pleasure-to-read-travel-guides-especially-the/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“I do not believe the fable that men read travel books to escape from reality: they read to escape into it, from a crazy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-comfort/i-do-not-believe-the-fable-that-men-read-travel-books-to-escape-from/) [Alex Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-comfort/) > [The man who seeks to educate himself must first read and then travel in order to correct what he has learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-man-who-seeks-to-educate-himself-must-first-read-and-then-travel/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think people read travel books either because they intend to take that trip, or because they would never take that trip. In a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-think-people-read-travel-books-either-because-they-intend-to-take/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [“The More You Read The More You Travel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muctim/the-more-you-read-the-more-you-travel/) [MucTim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muctim/) > [“To write is to carve a new path through the terrain of the imagination, or to point out new features on a familiar route.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/to-write-is-to-carve-a-new-path-through-the-terrain-of-the/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Read. Travel. Read. Ask. Read. Learn. Read. Connect. Read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/read-travel-read-ask-read-learn-read-connect-read/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [I like to sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee on the terrace and read a book. I like to travel the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-vos/i-like-to-sit-down-relax-have-a-cup-of-coffee-on-the-terrace-and-read/) [Marianne Vos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-vos/) > [Live always in the best company when you read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-smith/live-always-in-the-best-company-when-you-read/) [Sydney Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-smith/) > [There's no reason to burn books if you don't read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-s-no-reason-to-burn-books-if-you-don-t-read-them/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Read. Read all the time. Read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/read-read-all-the-time-read-as-a-matter-of-principle-as-a-matter-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. I genuinely believe that 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/it-is-no-secret-that-i-have-read-the-da-vinci-code-several-times-i/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [All books are judged by their covers until they are read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryrose-wood/all-books-are-judged-by-their-covers-until-they-are-read/) [Maryrose Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryrose-wood/) ## More by Derek Walcott > [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/peel-your-own-image-from-the-mirror-sit-feast-on-your-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I don't feel I've arrived home until I get on the beach. All my life, the theater of the sea has been a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-don-t-feel-i-ve-arrived-home-until-i-get-on-the-beach-all-my-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“As human beings we’ve certainly suffered the loss of awe, the loss of sacredness, and the loss of the fact that we’re not here—…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/as-human-beings-we-ve-certainly-suffered-the-loss-of-awe-the-loss-of/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I shall unlearn feeling, unlearn my gift. That is greater and harder than what passes there for life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-shall-unlearn-feeling-unlearn-my-gift-that-is-greater-and-harder/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The greatest writers have been, at heart, parochial, provincial in their rootedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-greatest-writers-have-been-at-heart-parochial-provincial-in-their/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-time-will-come-when-with-elation-you-will-greet-yourself-arriving/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/break-a-vase-and-the-love-that-reassembles-the-fragments-is-stronger/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My mother, who is nearly ninety now, still talks continually about my father. All my life, I've been aware of her grief about his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-mother-who-is-nearly-ninety-now-still-talks-continually-about-my/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My family background really only consists of my mother. She was a widow. My father died quite young; he must have been thirty-one. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-family-background-really-only-consists-of-my-mother-she-was-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I am the man my father loved and was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-am-the-man-my-father-loved-and-was/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Like any art, what is the most imprisoning thing is also the most delivering thing. If an actor knows he only has 12 syllables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/like-any-art-what-is-the-most-imprisoning-thing-is-also-the-most/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The thing that is believed is a reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-thing-that-is-believed-is-a-reality/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The history of the world - by which, of course, we mean Europe - is a record of intertribal lacerations, of ethnic cleansings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-history-of-the-world-by-which-of-course-we-mean-europe-is-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The English language is nobody's special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-english-language-is-nobody-s-special-property-it-is-the-property/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) [Explore all 177 Derek Walcott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I read; I travel; I become", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Derek Walcott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-read-i-travel-i-become/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-read-i-travel-i-become/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/derek-walcott-2220_books_i-read-i-travel-i-become-674898_674898.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I read; I travel; I become” — Derek Walcott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Derek Walcott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I read; I travel; I become", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-read-i-travel-i-become/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-read-i-travel-i-become/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```