(The Art of Travel, post 2, Going Places
required reading: The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton)
Before departing for Buenos Aires, NYU kept us updated with
a blog and sent additional information about expectations for our time there,
as with any abroad site. This induced unnecessary stress and sentiments of
anxiety and fear in this process of secure and over-preparation. And in these
moments I would have to sit down and breathe and picture myself staying in a
wonderful home (my homestay mother emailed me pictures of my room before
getting there) with a nice family and a pet cat (un gato whose name is Cato, pictured below hanging out in our
beautiful courtyard). This
“profusion of images” (13) didn’t throw me off, however, because I did not
necessarily experience a “selection [of] the imagination,” but rather a comfort
in knowing I have a bed to sleep on in more than tolerable accommodations. And
that comfort came from seeing myself there, versus forgetting myself amongst
these images (19).
In the reading, I found myself often on the other side of de
Botton; where he believes this ‘selection’ derived from images of the place we
plan to visit mixed with anticipation is “easier to experience… than in
reality” (14), I find the reality the far more exhilarating part of traveling,
and although it is not necessarily ‘easier’ than daydreams of foreign lands, it
is more genuine in emotional impact.
And honestly this may be
true for me because I didn’t have many expectations in regards to mental images
besides that, really. I have never before visited South America, and could only
draw so much from photographs of the different landmarks of Buenos Aires,
taking note that it is obviously a large city with rich culture and history
that I was more than eager to soon absorb. Perhaps my only true expectation was
that I would board a plane and eventually arrive and live in Argentina. “… it
seems we may best be able to inhabit a place when we are not faced with the
additional challenge of having to be there” (23). But isn’t that half, if not
all, of the point? The anticipation of packing and making sure my documents
were ready and being incredibly nervous about using my (very poor, I am now
discovering) Spanish comes from physical and mental preparation of being there,
and of being ready to face those challenges that lie ahead, challenges que vale la pena (are worth the
risk/pain), challenges that make the stay somewhere an adventure and great
stories to tell upon one’s return. Anticipation before travel is inevitable,
may it be stressful or full of sweet reveries of paradise, or a little bit of
both, but actually being there is, I believe, the more powerful element of
travel, having it be the instigator of it all. It certainly is not the easier
part, but the more difficult part to follow will not be selected or simplified
(15), but rather will have every hole and gap, good and bad, filled with all
the pictures not found in the tourist’s brochure. And thus far I’m finding the
photo album, per se, of my stay here better than any anticipatory images one
may stumble upon before the journey begins.
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