As you set out for Ithaca
pray that the journey is long,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – do not be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops’
wild Poseidon – you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them deep inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Then pray that the journey is long.
That the summer mornings are many,
that you will enter ports seen for the first time with such pleasure, with such joy!
Stop at Phoenician markets
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony,
and pleasurable perfumes of all kinds,
buy as many pleasurable perfumes as you can;
visit hosts of Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from those who have knowledge.
 Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for long years;
and even to anchor at the isle when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you a beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have taken the road.
But she has nothing to give you now.

And if you have found her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you.
With such great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience
you must surely have understood by then what Ithacas mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy
(1863 - 1933)