isamar friedman asks:
Do you have any background material why Rebbe Akiva traveled to those places on the bottom of 26a?
isamar friedman, Yerushalayim
The Kollel replies:
I did not see anyone comment on this. However, it could be he was going to check out if the ten Shevatim, who some say were exiled to Afriki (see Sanhedrin 94a), were ever going to come back. If this is correct, it could be that he concluded that they were not going to come back, which could be why Rebbi Akiva holds in Sanhedrin (110b) that the ten Shevatim will not come back. Of course, this is all conjecture, but it is possible.
All the best,
Yaakov Montrose