Your Bag Is Overweight

One of the stressful aspects of travels the dreaded packing of the bags. The trips that I have been all too lucky to be able to journey on, this has got to be the one component of travel that isn’t all that fun. Although, it does ignite the feeling of total excitement because you know that soon you begin you adventure. The entire time packing the one statement that continually pops into my head while packing is, “Your bag is overweight,” as I add another article of clothing to the already stuffed suite case.

Before I travel anywhere I always look at the current weather of the area and the ten-day tentative report. That way I have some type of idea for the clothing to pack. This is the only research I allow myself to do prior to a trip. I like to experience the culture and life first hand without any biases or constructed thoughts. I believe taking an open mind anywhere you find yourself in life is key to emersion and true life changing experiences.

Besides an open mind being one the most important items I “pack” for the trip, I also bring my most meaningful item, my camera. This is my journaling. Through my lens of my camera I see the world in a different light. I get to really observe what is going on around me and document the experience.  It is truly only when I travel anymore that I am struck with the biggest amount of inspiration. This is when the artist within emerges and explodes. It is said a photograph is worth a thousand words, but to me a photograph is worth a million different feelings. By looking at a photo I am instantly transported back to the time it was taken. I can remember everything from the feeling of the sun on my skin, to the scent of the air that consumed my lungs.  As it can be seen, photography plays a large role in my travel.

Some may think this last part to be insane, but there is one thing that I do not use while traveling abroad. This item is my phone. I don’t want to have any contact with the life that is all too familiar. Instead I purchase a pay as you go phone in the country I find myself in. This way I have contact to the friends I make along the way, but I am distant from the life I usually live. This makes my journey so much more worth it. This provides even more of a discontent with borders. It allows myself to truly dive into the culture and not rely on the already known.

This obviously isn’t my entire list of must to accompany my journey, but it is indeed the most important in my eyes.  

  

The Borders Along the Way

I can’t just pick one border that the writers have identified. I think that there are two huge boundaries that our writers have come across, which I think will play a role not only in my travels, but also in my day-to-day life. These borders are the physical and mental borders. I believe that these two borders transcend from travel to influence your life after travel. A true traveler cannot have one without the other.

Obviously, a physical border is much easier to identify. This type of border is a geographical one. Once you decide to move from your own way of life and enter a new region, you have crossed a physical border. This physical border can easily be achieved. One doesn’t even need to leave his or her country, state, or town to accomplish this border. I believe that physical borders are just as important as any other. Even if the difficulty of this crossing is simple, it still very much counts. Finding the courage to leave the area one has come accustomed to is often the biggest obstacle.

I believe that I have found the courage to live outside the norm and experience new physical borders. I believe physical borders play a large part in my personal explorations. I believe in breaking out of the ritualistic cycle of life and jumping the physical borders that so tightly constrain us. Getting on an airplane fills me with such great excitement. I love sitting in the window seat and watching all the borders I am flying over. It is beautiful to see all the colors that paint the earth, each color so unique to each area and the border that it makes up.

As for the mental borders, I personally find these the most groundbreaking and meaningful to myself, and quite possibly the most important border personally. The molding of the mind is one of the most beneficial factors to travel. One’s outlook on life after travel is amazing changed. I have never seen the world in such color, before traveling. The sense of humanity along the way is empowering. The colors, scents, people, and images are forever engrained in my mind. Every memory awakes a new reality of love, life, and happiness.

However, leaving both these borders open for interpretation may leave the traveler with the most well rounded adventure he or she may ever take.  

Competitive Travel

I can definitely see how competition between travel writers could rise when trying to compose the most outrageous trip.  I feel that this type of competition would be a fun reading selection and perhaps a supply of inspiration for future travel. However, I don’t feel there is practicality for the average traveler if he or she wanted to use this as a travel manual.

 

Friendly competition is bound to happen within any profession one decides to pursue. I feel that this type of competition is competition on a grander scale. The entire world is your game board. How exciting would it be to plan the most outrageous travel plan with nothing off limit?

I do question if travel is changed if seen as a competition. Will the experience still resonate as deeply? Or will the fact that the trip was planned out of pure competition change the underlying meaning of the journey? I would also question the writer/traveler’s want to venture to the destination he or she planned for the outrageous trek.

Although, the writer/traveler may very well be 100% committed to the planned adventure no matter the competition or areas selected. I think this type of commitment is essential for the success and portrayal of the outrageous trip.  

In my opinion, I feel once you begin traveling for someone else or for shock value you have jeopardized the true experience of the adventure.  Not only was this jeopardy impacting you, but this also could affect your general audience. I feel that reading these type of trips would indeed be entertaining, but ideally I would like to read a travelogue that I could recreate myself.

I am not completely against the idea of competitive travel. I do think it pushes other travelers to step outside they boundaries of what the common travel might look like. As a traveler, you set your own limits, standards, and expectations. Therefore, if you want to compete with your buddies or fellow travel writers, just be true to you and your travelogue!

Humor Is Humorous

I don’t think that humor is essential for effective travel writing. I think humor is a nice tool to break the seriousness in a piece of travel writing. I think if executed successfully humor can make a piece more relatable. However, with humor I think the author should tread intellectually, for if humor is used in the wrong way it may be offensive to a group of people or even the reader.

I think self-deprecating humor is one of the more successful of humor styles. I feel that this is a safer way of humor to go. How harmful is it to poke fun at one’s self? This is one of my favorite styles of humor. I think it allows the reader to better get to know the author also. I think poking fun at a culture or country could come across not as funny or appropriate. I suppose the topic of which you are trying to incorporate humor in would have to be assessed.

I think humor when used in travel writing might take away from the overall writing. At times humor is extremely situational. Have you ever told the funniest story to someone? And you are the only one laughing, so you have to reply. “I guess you just had to be there.” I think this might be the case for many of travel experiences. Unless you are a very good writer and convey humor successfully. Although, I guess it would be a little dry reading anything without some sort of comedic break.

As you can tell by reading this journal entry, I am a little conflicted with my thoughts on this topic. I feel that my humor would be situational humor and hard for others to find humorous. Although, looking back on some of my journeys, I do have some situations that could evoke a laugh or two out of people.   

Borders

One of the borders that I believe Kapuscinski crosses and speaks upon is the feelings and thoughts a person goes through when crossing a border.  Kapuscinski says on page 8, “I wonder what one experiences when one crosses the border. What does one feel? What does one think? It must be a moment of great emotion, agitation, tension.” I think this is a border that isn’t often thought of as a border.

Personally, I think that this border is one of the most influential borders a person can cross. The feeling a person goes through when crossing a border often times foreshadows the coming journey. The immense rush of emotions that I encounter on every border I cross are feelings that I will never forget, and it is these feelings that empower me to continue travel.

I will never forget the first time I flew and traveled alone. Those feelings of the unknown were great. The nerves ran high, but I was being fueled on this high. The near future was unforeseen. I wasn’t following a guidebook or a tour guide. I was solely following my gut and intuition.

When I first landed, after already crossing the border of flying alone, I had internationally crossed a border. The adrenaline and excitement of the unknown was so great. I felt alive with every step I made off the plane. When I inhaled the fresh air of the foreign land, it all felt so surreal. I had made it.

I believe crossing of borders are to be embraced in all aspects, physically, mentally, emotionally. 

Travel Openly

Twain says in Roughing It, “So we flew along all day. At 2 P.M. the belt of timber that fringes the North Platte and marks its windings through the vast level floor of the Plains came in sight. At 4 P.M. we crossed a branch of the river, and at 5 P.M. we crossed the Platte itself, and landed at Fort Kearny, fifty-six hours out from St. Joe- THREE HUNDRED MILES!” I find this passage so relatable to my form of travel because I interpreted this as my time spent in an airplane. I enjoy the time I spend flying across the nation or world. It’s a time for self-reflection and time to adjust the mindset for the journey that is to come once the plane lands.

This may seem obvious, but the further the flight, the further disconnect from the reality one finds him or herself use to. I think this is an essential component to the travel experience. Even if the trip is only 3 hours from where you find yourself geographically, take that travel time to distant yourself mentally from the normality you find yourself accustomed to.

Herodotus says, “…I do not think any one nation knows much more about such things than any other.” I think this speaks volume with the mindset that a traveler should journey with. Regardless the destination you find yourself arriving at, one should always arrive with a clear mind, free of judgment or assumption. Even if you study about the place you are traveling to, it is key to go in with a blank slate. You cannot speak fully on a place until you find yourself walking the land and absorbing the culture yourself. This is how I try to go into any situation or travel destination. Failure to be open and experience culture through your own eyes, and not solely form the pages of a book, can be detrimental to the overall travel experience.

Developmental Traveler

I can relate to many of things that Pico Iyer is able to put into words regarding travel. I think many could learn a thing of two, not only about travel, but also to the openness of life from Iyer. The fluidity of his writing really draws the reader in. It also calls time for self-reflection of one’s self and his or her travels. I believe it is safe to say that Iyer views himself as a traveler.

However, what is wrong with being a tourist? The definition is, "a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure." Although, there is a negative condemnation of the word and it’s meaning, I believe that we are all, at some point, a tourist of the world.

No matter where we travel to the locals of any destination will be viewing any outsider as a tourist. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything horrible, but it is up to us to break that stereotype. In my eyes, a tourist is someone who doesn’t stray far from the beaten path. This person is someone who only visits the popular, top travel lists of the world. There is nothing wrong with that. It becomes an issue when someone is unable to look elsewhere for knowledge and excitement other than what’s outside their own windows.

A traveler in my opinion is someone who is able to just submerse him or herself in a culture. These individuals don’t need a five star resort or accommodations to get the most out of an experience. I think it is important to note that these individuals are traveling for an experience, not just a feeling of a vacation. I also believe these individuals tend to do a lot of self-reflection along the journey.

Although, tourist and traveler may seem like there are vast differences, there are similarities that link the two together. I believe both come with the want or need for escape from everyday life. Both of these types of people have a yearning for something new and exciting. Even if the experiences differ greatly, the root of needing escape is clearly relevant.

I believe the most important difference to note is, a traveler views the journey as a developmental agent in life. Thus, shaping the views and actions of said person for future experiences. Rather than just escaping to vacation to prop one’s feet up and drink a piña colada to forget about the responsibilities of life.  These individuals take nothing back to help better their lives, other than the knowledge and need to escape the stress again.