LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“They say it’s about the people you meet, but maybe it’s about the ‘you’ that you meet.” Kate Wells, Air Canada enRoute’s senior digital editor, said those words to me as we mulled over what it is that drives people to travel. Exotic surroundings, unfamiliar dishes, Instagram bragging rights and, yes, meetings with fascinating strangers – all possible reasons to jump on a plane with an overstuffed carry-on and fly halfway around the world. But the act of leaving home can end up having a profound effect on one’s sense of self, as proven by three contributors to our April issue.

One way to find yourself is by running naked on a beach in Iceland, chasing your clothes as the wind whisks them toward the freezing sea. Writer Ted Alvarez challenged himself to take a trip across Iceland with nothing more than the clothes on his back – and then risked taking them off to go for a swim. His journey captures the essence of spontaneous travel, as he navigates living out of a van and depending on the kindness of strangers.

Another way to discover who you are is to forge a connection with a sensitive animal. As Linda Besner rode a horse through Alberta’s stunning foothills, she had to become comfortable enough with herself to work effectively with a Missouri Fox Trotter mare, with whom Besner found herself seeking a deeper connection. As one of my guilty-pleasure TV shows, Longmire, puts it, “You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle a horse.”

Finally, photographer Salva López didn’t go looking for himself in a place he’d never been. Instead, he returned to a site of emotional significance: the Komodo archipelago, in Indonesia, where he had travelled with his girlfriend. After their relationship ended, he returned to form a bond with the place on his own terms.

Enjoy the issue – and here’s hoping you find a little of yourself in these pages.