Is There A Right Path To Travel?
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And, I quote, “Getting there is half the fun when you’re on a cruise ship that left Brisbane on Saturday afternoon and won’t dock at Noumea until Tuesday afternoon, and you’ve got four new books from the library.”
That was from a recent article in The New Zealand Herald by Ewan McDonald who head-butts the idea of traveling for the journey as opposed to the destination-centric approach. But, wait, wait, it’s a little more complex, the author ponders. The fun part of travel, he says, is the luxury that we get to enjoy: those four days of worn-in sun chairs on the deck of a cruise ship. Rejuvenation that comes from choosing a little R&R instead of the rum and coke with the locals while stranded in some abandoned nowheresville hut. To McDonald, “roughing it” is not the kind of travel people are actually looking for.
I agree that travel remains largely for the temporary adventurist, those that have a few weeks off here and there and need some fresh ideas from the hooligans abroad. However, I would hate to lump travel into just one category. Generally, if you lump it, leave the adventuring for those that still find wonder in the whole charade.
It’s true that some (okay, most) may not want to take the advice of Survivor Man for their next getaway. Of course. My idea of a vacation is not what things I can find on the ground to eat (although freeganism is having a surge of popularity). Most people’s idea of vacation is to get away and, perhaps, dabble in supervised adventuring (rafting, zip-lining, glacial trekking, etc . . .)
Then, there are those that just drop everything and go, hoping to learn a few things along the way. For these folk, the adventure is not in those thrills at the destination. Perhaps it is just a new language, a new skill, geographical orientation or cultural exposure that are on the traveler’s mind.
Nevertheless, along the way there are going to be bumps, hiccups and detours. These are only to be expected: the quality of an airline meal, a road or neighborhood to never walk down, how to get a cellphone, what restaurant provides unlisted food poisoning. These are also a part of the journey and part of the baggage you sign for when clicking to purchase a ticket to anywhere.
Perhaps, life lessons are a part of every excursion of the day whether traveling to the forlorn or the office. Letting go of control (that we are human and make mistakes) or knowing how to regain it when the company books you a ticket that never existed in the first place. Perhaps, a greater understanding or realization that we are, essentially, all equally bound to different places with our minds in different places. And, how we still learn to yield, even when we think we see a green light that says go.
I salute each traveler, and to each their own little journey! Synonymous paths may all look different, but sound the same to me.
About the Author
Toronto born and based, Brit is an avid leisurely cyclist, coffee drinker and under-a-tree park-ist. She often finds herself meandering foreign cities looking for street eats to nibble, trees to climb, a patch of grass to sit on, or a small bookstore to sift through. You can find her musing life on her personal blog TheBubblesAreDead.wordpress.com.