By Martin Waldseemüller – Library of Congress, [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1265946
People often ask, “Why the name Amerigo Travel?” To answer, listen to the truth of a John Steinbeck quote, “People don’t take trips, trips take people.”
Travel has a way of inhabiting you and driving you to discover something or someplace new. The reward for our pursuit of discovery is actually finding out more about ourselves and the world in which we live. We experience the paradox of learning how different we all are and how in many ways we are also all the same.
In searching for a name for my travel agency I looked to great explorers of the past and settled on Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator and explorer who played a prominent role in exploring the New World. In 1501, believing he had discovered a new continent, Vespucci called South America the New World in a letter to Florence.
The following excerpt from www.biography.com explains how America came to be named.
“In 1507, some scholars at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in northern France were working on a geography book called Cosmographiæ Introductio, which contained large cut-out maps that the reader could use to create his or her own globes. German cartographer Martin Waldseemüler, one of the book’s authors, proposed that the newly discovered Brazilian portion of the New World be labeled America, the feminine version of the name Amerigo, after Amerigo Vespucci. The gesture was his means of honoring the person who discovered it, and indeed granted Vespucci the legacy of being America’s namesake.
Decades later, in 1538, the mapmaker Mercator, working off the maps created at St-Dié, chose to mark the name America on both the northern and the southern parts of the continent, instead of just the southern portion. While the definition of America expanded to include more territory, Vespucci seemed to gain credit for areas that most would agree were actually first discovered by Christopher Columbus.”
At Amerigo Travel, I encourage people to Explore, Discover, and Experience. Explore by doing anything new: a new destination, a new type of vacation, or visiting an old favorite in a new light. When you do this, there are always discoveries to be made: a new favorite restaurant, scenery you never imagined, new friendships formed. Then you have the kind of life changing experiences that everyone desires.
John Steinbeck was right. Trips do take people. Where will your next trip take you?
Amerigo Travel LLC is an independent agency in the Avoya Travel Network specializing in customized group vacations to Europe and beyond. In addition, we work with all the major cruise lines and tour companies. Feel free to reach out direct using our contact page. We would love to hear from you.
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