The famous French pilot Antoine de Saint Exúpery once wrote, “I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of fairy tales, as to those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to it.” 

There is something enchanting about such happenstances, when one finds inspiration for a beloved literature piece after surviving an unexpected crash landing in the middle of a strange, alluring land. Antoine had been flying over the region of Central America in the early 1900s when his aircraft went down over the city of Antigua in Guatemala. One of the country's local writers aptly describes the pilot's time there, while in recovery, and observing his surroundings.

“He saw our volcanoes, smelled our roses and lived with our people before writing his master piece. He walked the streets of Antigua, loved a Central American girl, and spent time drawing while recovering from the plane crash. He was particularly taken by two things — first, that there were three volcanoes surrounding the city, two active and one dormant, and second, the fact that the city seemed to have roses everywhere.”

As I believe there is a line connecting the stories we read to the realities that we live, I was delighted to discover Le Petit Prince, the children’s book inspired by the author's time in Guatemala, shortly before departing on my own trip to the land of banana trees, cornfields and sheep herds laid out farther than the eyes can see.