There’s something wonderfully risky and pure and exhilarating about setting off on a journey with nothing but a suitcase to your name. Even in a world of superconnected and superaccessible everything, as we carry the contents of our lives around in tiny phones in our pockets...

As my plane angled into position on the runway in Kansas City, I turned off my phone and had the distinct feeling of being in the starting blocks of a race. I haven’t raced since high school, more than 15 years ago, but the particular giddy nervous energy of the starting line found its way back into my veins easily...