The Traveler
Vocabulary
| scold | resident | hesitation |
| sneak | run away | long distance |
| slip | slip away | sooner or later |
| trick | missing | long-distance |
| appear | stowaway | get on board |
| cargo | progress | rainforest |
| vessel | A-student | get on board |
| pier | wander | conductor |
| excel | grow up | accompany |
| notice | volunteer | discover (3) |
| harbor | explore | entomology |
| science |
Wandered Around
Ryan was three when he left home for the first time. His mother had not closed their back door completely, and Ryan went out and wandered around the back yard . . .
Two hours later he appeared in the next village. He was just able to tell residents there his name and the name of his village.
Missing Child
By age seven, Ryan would go missing three times a year. At first he would go long distances on foot.
Later, Ryan got on city buses and subways. He sat there, enjoying the ride — until a conductor asked for his ticket. Not having one, he was sent to the police, who brought him home.
Why?
“Why do you do this,” the police asked Ryan. “Do you have a bad home? Are you unhappy there?”
“No, I am happy,” he answered.
“Then why do you keep doing this?”
“I just like traveling and seeing places.”
Scoldings
Ryan continued to “travel” and see places, even though everyone scolded him and told him not to do that. His parents and teachers used to watch him closely . . . but sooner or later he managed to slip away.
As Ryan grew older, his favorite trick was to sneak on trains and long-distance trucks. Sometime he would travel hundreds of kilometers before being discovered.
Progression
Eventually, Ryan progressed to sneaking on board a ship (he was twelve at the time). It was a cargo vessel. Many days later, Ryan found himself in Sumatra, Indonesia.
“How did you get on board?” shipping officials asked him.
“It was easy!” replied Ryan. “I just went to the harbor, walked along the pier, and boarded the nearest ship.”
A-Student
Despite all this, Ryan was an A-student. He excelled in math, science, foreign languages, writing, and history.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Ryan’s teachers asked him.
“An explorer!” he replied without hesitation.
“An explorer? But it’s very difficult to become an explorer in this modern age. Why don’t you become a doctor, lawyer or an engineer instead?”
Geography, Geology, Biology
At university, Ryan studied geography and biology.
In the summer of his senior year, he saw a notice in the university newspaper. It was for volunteers to accompany and assist some scientists in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.
Ryan signed up . . . and in two weeks, he found himself on a boat in the Guiania River.
Questions
1. Ryan started wandering away from home as a teenager. True or false? What did he do when he was three years old?
12. What did he do by age seven? Ryan used to . . . . .
103. Were his parents mean and abusive?
1,004. By the age of 12, he became interested in football and girls. Is this right or wrong?
10,005. Because of all his wanderings, was Ryan a poor student in school?
100,006. Did he want to be IT expert or software engineer when he grew up? What did he want to be when he grew up? Did his teachers encourage him with his goal?
1,000,007. Ryan studied engineering at university. Is this correct or incorrect?
10,000,008. What happened in the summer of his senior year?
100,000,009. What will probably happen to Ryan (in the future)?
1 Billion. I got lost when I was young. True or false?
20 Billion. Did your friend run away from home? Do you know anyone who had run away from home?
500 Billion. Have you ridden a bus, coach, train, airplane, or ship? What is your favorite journey?
3 Trillion. Where would you like to travel to? What would you do there?
19 Trillion. What are or were your favorite subjects in school? What did or do you want to be when you grew up?
927. Trillion. What will happen in the future?
