I read this book during my first trip outside of Europe!
I had just turned 18 and I went to Egypt with my parents and my sister to celebrate my dad’s 50th birthday. My dad was born in Egypt, which is why it was our destination. His family moved back to the Netherlands when he was six years old, and he had never been back. He is Dutch, by the way.
My grandmother received this book for Mother’s Day in 1968, and it was handed down to my dad. I hope that I will inherit it someday. Sinuhe is the story of a young doctor in the Egyptian empire. It takes place in 1350 BC. The book not only describes the lives of Sinuhe and the pharaohs, but also lots of places that we visited during our trip. The combination of reading about the temples and other ancient ruins while simultaneously seeing them in person made an incredibly huge impression on me. I realised that a country like Egypt with all of its antiquities as well as a modern culture can be so different than our Dutch culture, and that there must be other places in the world that have yet again different but likewise impressive cultures.
And that sparked my curiosity. I set a goal for myself to see as many countries in the world as possible. These days, the goal has been adjusted somewhat. I just love travelling, preferably to faraway places where the sun shines. Seeing every country in the world is not going to happen, but in the meantime I have already seen a lot of wonderful places! And hopefully there are still many more to come...