"In Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes, he wrote: '"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and to find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints. [...] To hold a pack upon a pack-saddle against a gale out of the freezing north is no high industry, but it is one that serves to occupy and compose the mind. And when the present is so exacting, who can annoy himself about the future?"' Robert Louis Stevenson.
Stevenson was peripatetic traveler. Since 2002 The Art Of Travel, Alain De Botton, has a had a place on the book shelves. In the book De Botton advocates from travel over tourism. In his perception tourists often look for places and persons like home when they travel while travelers revel in the novel. He writes "Journeys are the midwives of thought."
For many years I've travelled to Thailand to teach school. Thailand is just now reopening to foreigners after locking down because of COVID. A sixty day visa is available, only in advance of travel, with proof of $17,500. in a bank account for a minimum of six months and proof of medical insurance. No Thailand this year. The teachers at "my" school stay in touch with me via Facebook and I will miss being with them in person. Compared to the sacrifice many have made this is a small price to pay.
Takk for alt,
Al
1 comment:
You have certainly traveled richly and well, opening minds and vistas. I love the contrast of traveler with tourist. I will aspire to be a traveler.
Blessings,
Marilyn
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