Other worlds, other lives: Professors and faculty skip town to explore
Russian research vessels and Honda hatchbacks take profs to far away places
Brandon Muri
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Focus
Crunching into a Honda hatchback and gutting the 5,200 mile stretch between Washington D.C and Mexico City with a couple of friends is Associate Professor of English John Freeh's idea of a good time.
This image is just another Polaroid in the sheaf of Freeh's mental road trip archive.
Some professors don't mind spending leisure time in Hillsdale, but Freeh and Librarian for Public Services Linda Moore eagerly bust out of town at the slightest provocation.
Freeh ventured on a bike trip to Pelee Island this Labor Day weekend. The island, the largest in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Ontario, appeals to Freeh's appetite for out-of-the-way places, he said.
"I saw it on a map and it looked interesting," Freeh said.
This summer Freeh drove 9,500 miles to the west coast. He spent time hiking Mount Rainier in Washington, exploring the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho, and climbing the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. Last summer included trips to England and France.
"I have yet to spend a summer in Hillsdale," he said.
Freeh said he does not believe great trips require serious mileage. He frequents folk music shows in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Shakespeare festival in Stratford, Ontario, and jazz festivals in Detroit.
Not always in the library, Linda Moore also carves from her life to tackle big adventures.
Moore's trips spark vivid memories of her travels: a pair of numb hands clinging to the railing of a ship, crawling through the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam, bumping into Associate
Professor of History Tom Conner's students in Berlin, and hundreds of bumbling penguins in Antarctica come to mind.
Rather than spotting her calendar with several small trips, she prefers to hoard the experience - no destination but the most distant and exotic, she said.
Within the 40 countries she has seen since high school, she has visited: Turkey, Peru, Vietnam, Newfoundland, China, Kenya, Croatia, Malta, Morocco, Cambodia, Panama and Guatemala, Moore said.
Her proudest feat was spending several days aboard a Russian research vessel navigating from Terra Del Fuego to Antarctica.
"We made about eight landfalls by zodiac," she said. "The best thing about that trip was the feeling of being where no one else has ever been."
Moore, already planning her next trip, will take on the Baltic States surrounding the Black Sea.
Both Freeh and Moore agree that travel is a therapeutic experience and encourage students to complain about Hillsdale's lack of activity to explore the possibilities nearby. It's a healthy break from the daily routines, Freeh said.
This image is just another Polaroid in the sheaf of Freeh's mental road trip archive.
Some professors don't mind spending leisure time in Hillsdale, but Freeh and Librarian for Public Services Linda Moore eagerly bust out of town at the slightest provocation.
Freeh ventured on a bike trip to Pelee Island this Labor Day weekend. The island, the largest in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Ontario, appeals to Freeh's appetite for out-of-the-way places, he said.
"I saw it on a map and it looked interesting," Freeh said.
This summer Freeh drove 9,500 miles to the west coast. He spent time hiking Mount Rainier in Washington, exploring the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho, and climbing the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. Last summer included trips to England and France.
"I have yet to spend a summer in Hillsdale," he said.
Freeh said he does not believe great trips require serious mileage. He frequents folk music shows in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Shakespeare festival in Stratford, Ontario, and jazz festivals in Detroit.
Not always in the library, Linda Moore also carves from her life to tackle big adventures.
Moore's trips spark vivid memories of her travels: a pair of numb hands clinging to the railing of a ship, crawling through the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam, bumping into Associate
Professor of History Tom Conner's students in Berlin, and hundreds of bumbling penguins in Antarctica come to mind.
Rather than spotting her calendar with several small trips, she prefers to hoard the experience - no destination but the most distant and exotic, she said.
Within the 40 countries she has seen since high school, she has visited: Turkey, Peru, Vietnam, Newfoundland, China, Kenya, Croatia, Malta, Morocco, Cambodia, Panama and Guatemala, Moore said.
Her proudest feat was spending several days aboard a Russian research vessel navigating from Terra Del Fuego to Antarctica.
"We made about eight landfalls by zodiac," she said. "The best thing about that trip was the feeling of being where no one else has ever been."
Moore, already planning her next trip, will take on the Baltic States surrounding the Black Sea.
Both Freeh and Moore agree that travel is a therapeutic experience and encourage students to complain about Hillsdale's lack of activity to explore the possibilities nearby. It's a healthy break from the daily routines, Freeh said.
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