David Raybin’s journey starts at an airport in Kent, Ohio.

His story is one that can be packed neatly – although admittedly – last minute, into a suitcase headed for London.

In July Raybin, an English professor and editor of The Chaucer Review, will travel roughly 4,080 miles reliving the stories and landscapes of Geoffrey Chaucer’s magnum opus, “The Canterbury Tales.”

The book, which tells the story of 29 pilgrims’ journey from Southwark to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury, is not far off from the $118,000 trip Raybin has planned.

He and 16 strangers will travel abroad, making stops at medieval landmarks, including Chaucer’s birthplace and site of death.

Although the trip will consist of 17 three-hour morning seminars, for two days the group will embark on their own Chaucer-esque journey to a Canterbury Cathedral, Raybin said.

“We’ll also take a day trip to Oxford to visit a medieval university town where one of Chaucer’s tales is set and a two-day trip to Canterbury that allows us to follow the route of Chaucer’s pilgrims and visit the magnificent cathedral that is the object of their journey,” he said.

Raybin said the passion he has for his research fuels his journey.

“That’s easy: Chaucer is my favorite poet,” he said.

The author has often been cited as the finest non-dramatic poet in English literature, Raybin added.

The book’s appeal is in the tales’ range from uproariously funny to tremendously moving, Raybin said.

Raybin thinks this is why the summer seminar received applications from about 150 schoolteachers.

Of those 150, Raybin said 16 will be chosen to attend.

Getting to know the group of travelers is of no concern to Raybin, who has been leading similar seminars since 1998.

“Our previous seminars have included many fantastic people,” Raybin said. “I see no reason to expect next summer’s group to be any different.”

Beyond his enthusiasm for this literary exploration, is the fear of dealing with stress of shutdowns on travel days and other unexpected complications.

Still, Raybin said he is prepared to make the most of any environment his journey may challenge him with.

“I’ve been in England enough to be accustomed to all this, but it still requires a lot of adapting each time,” he said.

As he adapts, Raybin expects to grow used to living out of a suitcase, using extensive public transportation, thinking in terms of foreign currency and eating a British diet of good Indian food and not enough vegetables.

Until then, he looks forward to teaching a Tuesday-evening spring-semester class on “The Canterbury Tales,” and said he is eager to see both English majors and non-English majors in attendance.

“Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ is one of the handful of finest books in English language literature,” he said. “Chaucer’s writing is sublime and pretty much everyone who reads the book likes it.”

Katie Smith can be reached at 581-2812 or kesmith2@eiu.edu.