After finishing his religious education and returning to his hometown of Muhajiran Haj Sayyah realises that his family has plans for him to marry his cousin. Partly wanderlust, and partly to escape this, he sets off for what would be an eighteen year trip through Europe, America and the Orient. Haj Sayyah's diaries are unique. He travels through practically every country in Europe, where he gives detailed reports. Later, in separate trips he also visits America and the Far East. He was astonished to see how much the European countries had progressed and concluded that education, to which European nations paid so much attention, was the basis for their advancement. In spite of his religious training, Sayyah had a positive attitude towards modern European customs. He mingled with people from all social classes and developed a fair understanding of their ideas; he saw that they were free to openly criticise their governments and religious authorities. He visited museums, schools, libraries, churches, factories, parks, zoological and botanical gardens, even prisons, and met some of the famous personalities of the time such as King George of Greece, Czar Alexander II of Russia, and King Leopold I.