Beyond Travelogues
and all else...
Travel musings
In Keio, I'm currently taking a module on Travel Writing. I thought it would be fun like writing travelogues and blog entries but oh my I was utterly wrong. Instead it was about reading up on 19th century travelers and how they set out on their long term voyage. I hate doing research especially not on history or historian figures. Gosh like why must I read and write someone from the past plus traveling back in those days (probably on a ship) is already so different from today's context.
But for the sake of class, I had to do my research on some famous travellers and to my surprise, I actually do respect them. They are the meaning of traveling, they set out to explore the unknown and to make sense of different cultures. Fast forward to today's world, we tend to travel for beautiful sights and probably for amazing photos. You know there's this "Places to go before you die" kinda articles which entices you to Wanna visit that city or so. I myself am no exception, I'm always so amazed at these photos and I tell myself, one day I want to be there. Truth. But for these historical travellers, their mindset probably wasn't that reason being there wasn't the Internet showing them how the place looks like, directions there and so on. They were really in for an adventure. Which sets me thinking Instead, I set out to do something for myself more than anything else. Traveling allowed me to explore the possibilities and to see the great big world out there (come to think of it, we are really that small). You will never ever finish exploring every part of the world, even if you are in a particular country for a long time, there's bound to be a part that you won't cover. And someone else may or rather would. Like I always say, going to touristy areas are not enough and will never be enough, to truly experience being a part of the city that you are in. You need to live in it! Which is why I always enjoy long trips so I can truly say yes I've been there, done that.
It's never going to be easy. No one said it was.
But, I'll do it, because I want to.
But for the sake of class, I had to do my research on some famous travellers and to my surprise, I actually do respect them. They are the meaning of traveling, they set out to explore the unknown and to make sense of different cultures. Fast forward to today's world, we tend to travel for beautiful sights and probably for amazing photos. You know there's this "Places to go before you die" kinda articles which entices you to Wanna visit that city or so. I myself am no exception, I'm always so amazed at these photos and I tell myself, one day I want to be there. Truth. But for these historical travellers, their mindset probably wasn't that reason being there wasn't the Internet showing them how the place looks like, directions there and so on. They were really in for an adventure. Which sets me thinking Instead, I set out to do something for myself more than anything else. Traveling allowed me to explore the possibilities and to see the great big world out there (come to think of it, we are really that small). You will never ever finish exploring every part of the world, even if you are in a particular country for a long time, there's bound to be a part that you won't cover. And someone else may or rather would. Like I always say, going to touristy areas are not enough and will never be enough, to truly experience being a part of the city that you are in. You need to live in it! Which is why I always enjoy long trips so I can truly say yes I've been there, done that.
It's never going to be easy. No one said it was.
But, I'll do it, because I want to.
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