Wednesday, March 19, 2008
On Travel Writing...
Lately, I've had a hard time updating this blog. Not that there hasn't been plenty to talk about in the travel world, it's just that there hasn't been much inspiration to share news, tips, tidbits, stories. Probably because this blog is as much an exercise in writing for me as anything else. Writing was a profession for a short time, and it always feel good to shake the rust of the keyboard every few months.
Travel is a passion for me. I don't travel as much as I would like and often I feel as if I'm rehashing the same story over and over again. At the same time, too many travel tips make me feel like the pages of "Budget Travel" which I keep trying to read, and keep finding other things to do instead. A lot of travel blogs either follow this mold, or just snark at everything. Yeah, travel can be uncomfortable - but when the focus of your creative energies is how American Airlines Business Class is more uncomfortable than prison somehow, maybe time has come to channel energy elsewhere. The truth is, there's no passion to write, if I don't think that I'm working towards writing well.
Lately, I've been all about Paul Theroux. The name that's all over the Travel Narrative section at every book store I've visited has been something I've dreaded until I actually picked up "The Great Railway Bazaar." What have I missed? Finally, another writer who understands that travel is a pain in the ass. But it's the best kind of pain in the ass. Sort of like when you bruise your tailbone during a great day of skiing. Yeah, the pain hurts, sometimes well after you're off the slope. But it's a fair trade - because without the pain, there's no high from that chance meeting, that great conversation, that fabulous run down the slope. More than the destination, travel is about the journey - both within yourself and within the confines of your train, bus, hiking boots or plane. Theroux gets that. Most travel magazines don't.
This week, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation from a random Caribbean island tourist board. They were there to sell me on the island. They didn't. It's hard to sell something that there's no tangible connection to. They understood the product, the place, but they didn't share any kind of touching connection that they've made with this island.
"Great beaches," they said.
OK, I have great beaches here. Clothing Optional beaches, even. What makes these beaches special?
*Crickets*
Travel and vacations are more than the individual parts. A good trip has its own soul that reveals itself to you along the way. It's something that most people don't communicate. That most people don't share. There's passion and excitement in the journey. That is what's worth sharing.
Travel is a passion for me. I don't travel as much as I would like and often I feel as if I'm rehashing the same story over and over again. At the same time, too many travel tips make me feel like the pages of "Budget Travel" which I keep trying to read, and keep finding other things to do instead. A lot of travel blogs either follow this mold, or just snark at everything. Yeah, travel can be uncomfortable - but when the focus of your creative energies is how American Airlines Business Class is more uncomfortable than prison somehow, maybe time has come to channel energy elsewhere. The truth is, there's no passion to write, if I don't think that I'm working towards writing well.
Lately, I've been all about Paul Theroux. The name that's all over the Travel Narrative section at every book store I've visited has been something I've dreaded until I actually picked up "The Great Railway Bazaar." What have I missed? Finally, another writer who understands that travel is a pain in the ass. But it's the best kind of pain in the ass. Sort of like when you bruise your tailbone during a great day of skiing. Yeah, the pain hurts, sometimes well after you're off the slope. But it's a fair trade - because without the pain, there's no high from that chance meeting, that great conversation, that fabulous run down the slope. More than the destination, travel is about the journey - both within yourself and within the confines of your train, bus, hiking boots or plane. Theroux gets that. Most travel magazines don't.
This week, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation from a random Caribbean island tourist board. They were there to sell me on the island. They didn't. It's hard to sell something that there's no tangible connection to. They understood the product, the place, but they didn't share any kind of touching connection that they've made with this island.
"Great beaches," they said.
OK, I have great beaches here. Clothing Optional beaches, even. What makes these beaches special?
*Crickets*
Travel and vacations are more than the individual parts. A good trip has its own soul that reveals itself to you along the way. It's something that most people don't communicate. That most people don't share. There's passion and excitement in the journey. That is what's worth sharing.
Labels: navelgazing, philosophy of travel, travel
Monday, May 07, 2007
Flashback: June 2003. The Start of Something Big
The date was June 4 and I was in South Bend. Sitting in John's VW, eating double cheeseburgers just before I was to start my new ambition of coasting across the world and living hand to mouth on odd jobs and the charity of friends and well wishers. Being as cheap as possible, I found myself flying out of New York and taking a 24 hour train across the midwest and northeast of the country to get there. Standing at that rundown station, in a not so nice part of the down at heel city - there were lots of feelings running through me. Feelings I wasn't ready to accept yet. It was the end of a lot of things - a difficult relationship with John, the boyfriend of 3+ years that I was about to leave for this dream, a very poor professional situation that was on its way to bankrupting me, a general feeling of malaise and being in a rut, and a feeling of comfortability.
It was the start of a lot of things too. My new career of travel was definitely one, which would soon founder along with my confidence. My love affair with simplicity in life (which I would grow again to hate, and then love again) started that week too. I was off to find a life, find a self-confidence and self-motivation. I was ready to get things started!
I was conflicted that day. Leaving my entire life behind. My material goods mostly stuffed in my old childhood bedroom, the boyfriend I'd grown to love despite all of our relationship's failings, my career - however shitty. I felt like I was at the start of big opportunities... and big mistakes. Turns out I was right on both counts.
The train pulled away from the station, my point of no return reached. I shed a tear, sat in my seat - and watched the miles start to fly by, not knowing what the future holds. I was a little sad. I was a little excited - but mostly ready to get moving and take whatever life had to offer.
The date was June 4 and I was in South Bend. Sitting in John's VW, eating double cheeseburgers just before I was to start my new ambition of coasting across the world and living hand to mouth on odd jobs and the charity of friends and well wishers. Being as cheap as possible, I found myself flying out of New York and taking a 24 hour train across the midwest and northeast of the country to get there. Standing at that rundown station, in a not so nice part of the down at heel city - there were lots of feelings running through me. Feelings I wasn't ready to accept yet. It was the end of a lot of things - a difficult relationship with John, the boyfriend of 3+ years that I was about to leave for this dream, a very poor professional situation that was on its way to bankrupting me, a general feeling of malaise and being in a rut, and a feeling of comfortability.
It was the start of a lot of things too. My new career of travel was definitely one, which would soon founder along with my confidence. My love affair with simplicity in life (which I would grow again to hate, and then love again) started that week too. I was off to find a life, find a self-confidence and self-motivation. I was ready to get things started!
I was conflicted that day. Leaving my entire life behind. My material goods mostly stuffed in my old childhood bedroom, the boyfriend I'd grown to love despite all of our relationship's failings, my career - however shitty. I felt like I was at the start of big opportunities... and big mistakes. Turns out I was right on both counts.
The train pulled away from the station, my point of no return reached. I shed a tear, sat in my seat - and watched the miles start to fly by, not knowing what the future holds. I was a little sad. I was a little excited - but mostly ready to get moving and take whatever life had to offer.
Labels: flashback, navelgazing, trains, travel
