Welcome to Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel’s WAR & PEACE issue. This collection, months in the making, deeply explores the themes of war and peace, with a special emphasis on travel storytelling that combines current events throughout the world with reflections on the past. The word war comes from the late Old English wurre, meaning a large-scale military conflict, the French guerre meaning dispute, and the German verwirren, meaning to bring into confusion. The word peace was first used in the 12th century to define the right of freedom from civil disorder, and it comes from the French pais, meaning reconciliation, silence, permission, and the Latin pacem/pax meaning freedom from war or conflict. These works explore all kinds of war, from military battles to drug wars to enforced participation in violence—and many layers of peace-seeking, from a culture’s recovery after devastation, to making peace with oneself as one observes a world seemingly on fire.
...An old woman perches atop a fifth-storey window. Her elbows rest on the wooden frame, once painted—now chipping, the remnants of burgundy flaking off more and more each day. Her hands reach for dried laundry that flutters on the line just outside the window. The creases in her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, the bags under eyes, indicate life has been tough; it’s felt like a battle, but she’s a survivor.
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