Are we tourists? Are we travellers? Are we sightseers? Are we holidaymakers? Or are we just chasing an inquisitive wanderlust? What are we looking for? Are we actually searching for anything? Is it just a constant fascination with seeing different places, a different lifestyle, meeting new people and different conversations? A traveller’s mind always wanders, but is curiosity reason enough to go to new places?
When I unfold a map, or open an atlas, the intrigue takes hold. It tells us where we might like to go. Our maps are our starting points, they open up our journeys. We can’t really answer that age-old question “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go next?” Would it be somewhere we’ve already been and loved, or do we feel we need to see more of the world, before we can answer that question?
Is there anything beyond the ‘seven seas’ and where are the four corners of the world? Where was the line indicating the Tropic of Cancer when we were in Abu Dhabi, Oman and Mexico? We’ve stood on the prime meridian at Greenwich and crossed it in France and Spain. South Africa and Australia showed us the Tropic of Capricorn and we’ve crossed the Equator uncountable times……and we’re still travelling. It hasn’t changed us, or helped us understand the world any better, or has it? Do we feel a bit like we are ticking off some imaginary list of things to do in a lifetime?
Perhaps we should visit Terra del Fuego, or sail the wide Sargasso Sea. Would floating down the Mississippi be as absorbing as roaming up the Mekong River on a boat? Where does the Orinoco Flow and would the source of the Nile be as disappointing as the source of the River Thames? We’ve stood in the snow on the edge of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. We’ve watched the sun set in to the sea in Vanuatu. We’ve ridden on trains, cars, bikes, trams, planes, and on buses, with live chickens in Bali. We’ve walked on a glacier in New Zealand. We’ve stood on the top of the World Trade Centre in New York and inside the Christchurch Cathedral, both of which no longer exist. We’ve ridden camels in the desert, scrutinised snow monkeys in the mountains of Japan and watched leaf cutter ants keeping busy in the jungles of Sarawak. One of us has stood and marvelled at Everest, the world’s highest mountain and we’ve both looked down into the Colca Canyon, one of the world’s deepest. We’ve stood on wobbly reed islands in the middle of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, and skied down snow-covered mountains on so many continents. Why is it that standing on the top of a mountain, or on the edge of a cliff, is so much more exhilarating or moving, than just looking at pictures of these places? So many of these things can be studied in a book or a documentary, but it’s the sights, sounds, smells, different tastes and experiences that make something very special. No, we’re not ticking boxes; we are filling our lives with amazing visions and experiences.
Everywhere that we visit around the world is different and unique and yet strangely we often try to equate it to somewhere we’ve already been. “Oh, this beach looks just like one in Dorset”, no it doesn’t. “Oh, this town is like a smaller version of Melbourne”, no it isn’t. Surely the excitement of travel is in the joy of finding new places and not referring them back to the comfort of the already known; I hope we’re not the only travellers who do this…..?
I can love a window display in Venice, or London, as much as spotting a giraffe crossing a road in Africa. I can hate eating andoulette in the south of France, as much as nearly dying in a kayak in the Ardeche. I can love sleeping in Eileen The Campervan, as much as sleeping in a six-star hotel in Bangkok. It’s the combination of all these experiences, both good and bad, that make up the fun of travelling. Do we need the experience of staying in star-studded hotels around the world, or is bedding down in our comfy campervan the better way? Variety is the spice of life, so our lives must be very spicy! Life can be interesting, so very interesting. And then, it’s always so lovely to go home again……..
