Like many folk, when first I saddled a rucksack
-- Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: In the opening line, the speaker introduces the notion of traveling with the air of telling a folktale. The phrase "like many folk" shows that the present-day speaker is aware that her younger self followed a path that many people before her have followed in order to discover more about themselves and the world: namely, the path of the backpacker. The word "saddled" gives a zoomorphic sense to the line.

the way my spine / curved under it like a meridian
-- Speaker (Lines 3-4)

Importance: Here, the speaker physically connects the idea of traveling to her body. A meridian is a longitudinal line on the earth's surface as well as the energetic pathways of the body. This conjoining of the speaker's body to geography helps portray the speaker's love for travel.

in restlessness, in anony / mity: / was some kind of destiny.
-- Speaker (Lines 10-12)

Importance: The speaker constructs her unique...