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10 J U LY/AU G U S T 2 015 UNTACKED EDITOR'S LETTER Invest In Experiences Why do we travel? To escape the daily grind of work? To focus on spend- ing quality time with our friends or family? To explore unfamiliar land- scapes and cultures? Whatever reason you may have to book a vacation, it's probably not because you enjoy being in airports or on planes for extended periods of monotonous purgatory; it's all about arriving at some sort of new experience. In this, our inaugural Travel Issue, we're explor- ing many of the ways in which horses open doors around the world to those new experiences and the variety of equestrian getaways available today. For the dedicated competitor who wants to add a hint of vacation vibe to their summer horse show schedule, our cover story, "Destination: Showca- tion" (p. 26), serves as the perfect guide. Mean- while, more casual riders yearning for a mental escape can find inspiration in our riding holiday reports from South Africa (p. 56) and Ireland (p. 68). Or maybe your dream vacation is a departure from all things riding and an immersion in another culture. Photographer Elena Lusenti did just that for her stunning feature on the Palio of Siena (p. 48), one of Italy's most famous traditions and the world's oldest horse race. In today's materialistic and consumerist soci- ety, travel is—now more than ever—an important investment not in things, but in valuable experi- ences. "Stuff your eyes with wonder," Ray Bradbury exhorted in his famous dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. "Live as if you'd drop dead in 10 seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories." Of course, there's no getting around the fact that travel is a luxury; not everyone can afford to vacation abroad or even take time off to explore closer to home. But it's the act of going outside our mental comfort zones, not just our physical ones, that's most important, and that's something we can all prioritize. Next time you're on the road for a horse show, take the scenic route. Stop someplace unexpected. Try a new food, read the historical markers, talk to strangers. Foster your curiosity. Ask questions. Listen. Even if you're an introvert like myself, I promise these types of unexpected exchanges will prove to be rich and inspiring experiences. e process of editing this issue motivated me to book two trips and start planning (a Pinterest board for each!) for three more, and I hope it ignites your wanderlust as well. Sometimes we all need a little nudge to encour- age our participa- tion as citizens of the world, but as you'll read in the pages that follow, we're lucky to have horses as a power- ful facilitator. — Kat Netzler, Editor

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