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.
I had never thought of that Twain quote in relation to air travel. That was such a unique interpretation! It totally makes sense though. When I fly, I anticipate everything I want to do when I land. It totally gets me into the right mindset! I really like where you talk about the disconnect. One of the best things about travel is that you can be someone else, the way you relate finding that to the time on the plane was so interesting. The last section, with the Herodotus quote, is so true. If you go into a place assuming you know everything because you did research, you are bound to miss out on something unique that you can’t learn from books.
ReplyDeleteThe most compelling passage (among many) in your post for me was the way that you connect stagecoach and plane travel. To our modern eyes this probably seems silly - the difference in travel speeds is almost absurd. However, your connection takes into account the time period in which Twain is traveling - he's comparing this to walking, or horseback riding, along a trail that he doesn't know and for which he has no point of reference. His recounting of the Pullman car at the end of the passage just further emphasizes this difference.
ReplyDeleteBrody,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your third paragraph in which you explain that we need to have a clear mind and remain objective when we visit new places. It is important not to judge others based on their customs or the way they live just because they are different from us and don’t do things the way we do. If we constantly compare our country to our travel destinations, we will never truly enjoy or understand the places we travel to since we are so biased and disconnected from the world outside our comfort zone that we presumably chose to be in, which Iyer explains more eloquently than me…