Traveling

Travel Manifesto By Tom Grundy

I found this on http://spaces.msn.com/mod83/
You can download a pdf version there if you like.
This is probably more for people who have traveled, rather than the armchair travelers and the like.. but either way, if you have the time and interest- read it.


Travel Manifesto

Long-term solo travel - a manifesto for globetrotting bliss
tom grundy

To most, travel occurs in quick, frantic bursts and is seen as just another commodity you can purchase - an encapsulated, pre-planned experience you buy. These short periods slot into our ‘lifestyles’, which are often dominated by cycles of paying off debts, amassing belongings and fulfilling responsibilities. But does living in this way make us happy? Can travel expand the mind, reduce prejudices and really help us ‘find ourselves’ – or do such notions amount only to pretentious drivel? This article responds to ideas raised in Rolf Potts’s book ‘Vagabonding’.



Perhaps what we should be focusing on is increasing our personal choices, qualities and experiences rather than our possessions. Independent long-term travel is not the reserve of ‘other people’ or the wealthy, nor is it meant to be an escape from our lives; it should be a passion and challenge that encompasses the joys of uncertainty. It is about finding adventure in normal life, and normal life within adventure – and making a private choice within a society that traditionally rejects the idea of ‘haphazardly’ abandoning all to see the world. It is the best education we can get and can enrich our sense of creativity, awareness, sensitivity and independence…



“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
- St. Augustine



CHOOSING A DIFFERENT WAY:

Rolf Potts cites the story of two Christian monks, Theodore and Lucius, who lived in the wastelands of Egypt 700 years ago. Though they wanted to see the world, they could not break their vows of contemplation. To cope, they would ‘mock’ their desire to travel by relegating it to the future. When the summer came, they said they would leave in the winter. When winter came, they said they would leave in the summer.



We haven’t taken vows, but still we often choose to root ourselves to our home, a career and obligations, using ‘the future’ to justify the present instead of living in the now. Henry David Thoreau considered how we spend the best part of our lives earning money just to enjoy a “questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it”. The time never seems right and by settling into our lives/careers/homes/routines, we get obsessed with domestic certainties, convincing ourselves that we are just a few years or purchases from real happiness…



"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine"

- Caskie Stinnett



In a more contemporary example, Edward Norton’s character in ‘Fight Club’ talks of being ‘so close’ to a perfect wardrobe and apartment just after he lost it all in a fire. Popular anarchist thinking talks of how we spend the greater part of our lives doing whatever we can to get paid, instead of what we really want to do, trading our dreams for salaries and freedom to act for possessions. Accumulating ‘stuff’ holds us down, which is a significant reason why so many long-term backpackers are in their 20s. It is whilst travelling that one is forced to face fears now instead of postponing or evading them for the sake of convenience. Life is short and no-one on their death bed will be lamenting over not making more money or working harder. It is more likely our regrets will be not seeing more of the world, relating more to the world or not spending more time with loved ones. Acting to thwart any future prospect of regret is a good motivational attitude to adopt, but living in the moment is even more important…



"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour… Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain



Envisioning a world “full of rucksack wanderers”, Jack Kerouac wrote of the joy of living with people who ignore “the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming all that crap they didn’t really want… all of it impersonal in a system of work, produce, consume”. Jan, in the German movie ‘The Edukators’, talks about Westerners being ‘sedated’ with game shows, technology and shopping. In other words, as travel to places like Africa and India can show, financial wealth does not necessarily make you rich. Whilst these places may be financially impoverished, their people are richer in community, culture and religion than many people in Western societies...



“Whoever loves money never has money enough”

- Ancient Hebrew scripture



The sense of freedom travel provides can be more fulfilling but is it not, however, for everyone – and one should not feel obliged to travel, or do so for fashion, to gain a moral high ground or as some kind of rebellious social gesture. Long term solo travelling requires and entails significant sacrifices, uncertainties and adaptations. It is a personal act requiring only a realignment of the self – those who embrace this are set to gain the most. A positive attitude along, with a willingness to grow and maintain one’s positive outlook beyond periods of travel, will pay dividends on and off the road.



ON THE ROAD:

So how does travel help us find adventure in normality? Daily details such as ordering food, listening to the radio, taking a bus, the smell of a city and finding your way around suddenly become exciting, rich and exotic adventures. Travel produces an overwhelming density of experience - one may be excited, bored, confused, desperate and amazed all in one day. Life is simpler yet at the same time more complicated, by knowing less we see more – our senses are heightened to an almost childlike degree, as highlighted by travel writer Bryson…



“…You are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you only have the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”

– Bill Bryson



“Travel can be a kind of monasticism on the move: On the road, we often live more simply, with no more possessions than we can carry, and surrendering ourselves to chance.”
– Pico Iyer, ‘Why We Travel’.



This invigorating and simple way of living can be sustainable – it can spill over to trigger deep and permanent change in the rest of our lives.



FRIENDS & PEOPLE:

There is no baggage on the road other than your backpack, no pre-conceptions or pre-judgements, everyone is a stranger and you are a stranger to everyone – you have no history so in a way, you can be whoever you want to be.



"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're travelling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road"

- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways



Suddenly you have a clean slate and there is no better chance to dump bad habits, face old fears and test out repressed facets of your personality. Why is this? Stripped of the routines and possessions that give your life definition at home, you have to look for meaning internally. It is a cliché that travel can help you ‘find yourself’, but no matter where you’re visiting, there are few rehearsed responses or comforts to hide behind and you are forced to confront, recover and discover parts of your raw, true self. And since one is laid bare, free from all distractions, emotions are magnified, life is intensified and it is easier to achieve a ‘clarity of thought’. This alone helps us to give meaningful consideration to everything from small problems back home to one’s very existence…



“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter”
– John Muir, 1888, in a letter to his wife.



Perhaps Muir is being a little severe as there are pros and cons to travelling with friends, a partner or alone. Backpacking with others gives you a team dynamic and a chance to share the challenges, triumphs (and costs!) as well as the inevitable anxieties. Solo travel, however, enables you to immerse yourself in the environment and provides total independence and an opportunity to meet new people. And should one tire of travelling alone, it is easy to link up with like-minded backpackers on the road from all over the world.



An ideal way to enjoy the best of both worlds would be to travel with a friend and agree to have periods apart to venture off alone. One should perhaps be wary of remaining in a ‘bubble’ of friends for too long as doing so can distort and inhibit the enjoyment and understanding of a place…



“Those who visit foreign nations, but associate only with their own countrymen, change their climate but not their customs. They see new meridians, but the same men; and with heads as empty as their pockets, return home with travelled bodies, but untravelled minds.”
– Charles Caleb Colton.



Then again, one should remain open-minded as it can be a fascinating experience learning, for instance, about Chile, whilst backpacking in Prague. You may make lasting friendships which could even lead to an opportunity to visit your likeminded friend’s country, and vice-versa.



BACK HOME:

For many travellers, occasional periods at home provide an opportunity to see family and old friends and straighten out finances or earn some money. The more one travels, the more home feels like a foreign country rather than the other way round – and then the travel bug may also come to haunt you as you discover how little has changed.



Most friends and family will express enthusiasm for your travels, some may seem surprisingly uninterested in your adventures and others may even see it as a subtle criticism of their own way of life. ‘Gallivanting’ around the world may be interpreted as a selfish existence, but solo long term travel is not an ideology but a personal experience – and isn’t everyone else in pursuit of happiness in differing ways?



“Very many people spend money in ways quite different from those that their natural tastes would enjoin, merely because the respect of their neighbours depends upon their possession of a good car and their ability to give good dinners. As a matter of fact, any man who can obviously afford a car but genuinely prefers travels or a good library will in the end be much more respected than if he behaved exactly like everyone else.”
– Bertrand Russell, ‘The Conquest of Happiness’.



Russell is highlighting how personal investment is more important than material investment, despite what we’re conditioned to believe. Keeping up with the Joneses feels may feel almost obligatory, but is ultimately unfulfilling. Major depression is the most common psychological disorder in the Western world and it has increased 10-fold since 1945, alongside the increases in economic wealth and stability. Our society values materialism and individualism (though we show a level of conformity as consumers); emotionally we have, in essence, developed into a selfish society. The statistics show that the root cause of most depression is not a sudden chemical imbalance because human genes do not change that fast. So perhaps the system isn’t making us happy and consumption isn’t the answer, maybe we need to consider a different path?



SAFETY & FRUSTRATIONS:

As we get old making excuses not to see the world, safety is often cited as a good reason to stay put. Statistically it is just as (if not, more) dangerous going about your business in your home town than in most of the world’s other cities. Caution and common sense rather than paranoia – which can cloud judgement - should reign during your travels.



“We need sometimes to escape into the open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment no matter what.”
– George Santayana, The Philosophy of Travel.



For example, being ripped off is fairly inescapable, but it is easy to forget that any amount lost is probably negligible in your domestic currency, is likely to be going to an honest cause (like to support a family) and that even back home some touts and taxi-drivers will prey on the ignorance of foreigners to up the fare. By all means do as the locals do and barter for a good price, you may otherwise look foolish and reinforce notions that Westerners have more money than sense, but relax, enjoy the bargaining process and try not to get irritated or suspicious.



There will no doubt be unavoidable difficulties and frustrations on the road – questionable food and hostels, illness, bureaucracy, boredom etc… - but one should just have a sense of humour and bear in mind how they will make for good travel stories. Joyfully accept boredom as affirmation of your excessive freedom, joke about the dodgy hotel and stomach bug in your journal and emails home, welcome the drudgery of bureaucracy as an obstacle to your next adventure (it will make you feel a lot more deserving of the new visa in your passport!).



“One of the essential skills for a traveller is the ability to make a rather extravagant fool of oneself”
– John Flinn.



TOURIST vs. TRAVELLER:

Many think this old argument is a waste of time, but there are real differences in the outlook and aims of the two types of people. Bill Bryson jokes about tourists “eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home” only to spend lots of time and money trying to recreate these comforts on holiday (often in vain)! The little discomforts on the road should be seen as a welcome change and a challenge since being stripped of such comforts has its incentives. Tourists passively see what they have come to see, whilst travellers are pro-active in their search for interesting places, people and experiences.



This is not to say preparation is unimportant, but it needs to be balanced as not to interfere with adventure – voluntary ignorance will make for a richer experience when we determine and find things of our own accord. An historical understanding of a fort, temple or any other attraction will enhance your visit, however comprehensive itineraries or trying to control every detail may kill off all uncertainty and such over-planning can also destroy any sense of discovery and improvisation.



“It is fatal to know too much at the outset: boredom comes as quickly to the traveller who knows his route as to the novelist who is over certain of his plot”
– Paul Theroux, To the Ends of the Earth.



Guidebooks, to take one example, are a necessary evil in the world of travel – they offer a quick and easy handy reference for all kinds of travellers. But they may also be restrictive and tempt the reader to adhere to their suggestions and concise contexts with almost biblical authority. They are a poor substitute for wider research on a country, and sometimes the restaurants and accommodation they recommend become complacent and steadily decline when they realise that they are guaranteed a constant flow of backpackers. Pre-planning can be stifling and an overly strong degree of foreknowledge may detract from the element of surprise - paths should be made by walking.



PRECONCEPTIONS & ETHNOCENTRICITY:

Many destinations and entire civilisations have been mystified by our media and culture, and some of these stereotypes are instilled within us from an early age. False, romanticised images and preconceptions of the world only serve to encourage us to subconsciously want or seek to fulfil or confirm these presumptions when we actually step off the plane…



“Travel is the best way we have of rescuing the humanity of places, and saving them from abstraction and ideology”
– Pico Iyer, ‘Why We Travel’.



We shouldn’t flatter ourselves into thinking that any of those we meet travelling are eager to trade places or passports with us. But, equally, we should be aware that the indigenous, tribal or ancient people and communities we so readily mythologize might also desire the conveniences and luxuries the modern world has to offer. It has been known for ethnic villagers in Bali to hide their TVs and replace their jeans and t-shirts with traditional dress to maintain the illusion for prosperous tourists. Similarly, many younger Masai tribesmen in Kenya and Tanzania have moved to the city to find work in order to supplement their family’s income.



Agra in India, home of the Taj Mahal, is a working, polluted, bustling city like any other - full of people with the same needs, wants and desires as us. There is more to India than the corruption and bureaucracy we read about in guidebooks. Likewise, the glamorous and mysterious side of India, which the tourism industry is happy to promote, sits alongside more ‘distasteful’ features of the subcontinent, such as the heat, crowdedness, poverty and dirt. All these things make up the ‘true’ India but tour operators may work to shield tourists from these less attractive elements with air-conditioning, shuttle busses and luxurious hotels. As discussed earlier, the more comforts you try and recreate the stronger you make the barrier between yourself and what you came to see.



If we are only visiting to see what fits our preconceptions then the greater rewards of tolerance, patience and self-reliance will not be realised. A visitor may pity men and women sleeping rough at a railway station, only for it to be revealed that they are actually people from all walks of life simply waiting for a train. Preconceived signs of poverty we may recognise are sometimes just plain old cultural differences. In some places, people favour sleeping on mats on the floor than in beds, prefer walking barefoot and are accustomed to eating with their fingers. The reality of a destination lies somewhere in-between the glossy images promoted by the tourism authorities and the picture painted by charities and documentary-makers…


"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries"

- Aldous Huxley



When watching news of wars, disasters, elections etc… on the TV, Potts urges us to remember that just as the glamorous women, car chases and gun battles in Hollywood movies do not characterise American life, life overseas is not “populated by sinister or melodramatic stereotypes”. One of the most seemingly obvious yet momentous things one can learn when chatting to ordinary people when travelling, is that we are all basically the same and share similar values. As blatant as it would appear, it somehow still occasionally surprises even the most experienced globetrotters.



A less obvious yet broader example of ‘arm-chair’ conjecture distorting reality would be points raised by Robert Said. In his famous book ‘Orientalism’ he mapped out some of the Western world’s false and often arrogant assumptions of the East, suggesting how they would be shattered if we actually visited these places. John Huynuk disagreed, proposing that our attitude whilst travelling can also act as a smokescreen to the realities of a culture or society. He said that even during their visit, Westerners ‘consume’ places like Calcutta via the "machineries of perception carried as baggage in minds, texts, snapshots and backpacks." and their insights are filtered or framed by these resources. We have arrived before we have arrived!



Retrospectively, when we return home and reflect upon our travels, we must also be on guard to the natural human habit of sentimentality. It is just as easy to romanticise our own experiences, and these rose-tinted thoughts are perhaps best kept in check…



"Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen."

- Benjamin Disraeli



We should be aware of convincing ourselves that travel is the solution to everything; otherwise it simply becomes ‘running away’.



TREADING LIGHTLY:

Despite what we may presume, most people in the world will respect you as an individual rather than a political article. They may not agree with your country’s foreign policy but you will be still be overwhelmed by the hospitality and respect of near strangers. A genuine open-mindedness will work wonders, and open-mindedness is not some kind of left-wing ideology or meticulously defined liberalism, it means patiently listening to another way of thinking or take on life. We are not in a position to ‘correct’, judge or instruct people we encounter, even if the issues raised or things we see may impose on human rights. We may encounter social justice issues or abuses first-hand and feel helpless or in some cases indirectly responsible for what we see, but, on the road, it is wiser to temporarily ditch the soapbox, high horse and any commonly instilled ideas about political correctness. There are things we can do to help confront environmental and civil rights problems in other countries, but, as the next section will reveal, they are more effectively tackled remotely from home.



It is worth remembering too that merely by travelling solo, people you meet - unfamiliar with Western individualistic society - may feel you are betraying your duties and family by meandering in solitude about their towns and cities. Instead of going abroad to try and educate people or be heard, we would do better to just listen and then leave the teaching until we return home and can reflect on and share with others what we saw and learnt about another culture or approach to life…



"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled."

- Mohammed



At worse, the behaviour of Westerners can reinforce preconceptions – jumping queues, paying bribes, dressing inappropriately, even seemingly trivial things like eating customs or holding hands with your partner can potentially cause shock and distress. When children harass you for pens, when taxi drivers treat you with suspicion or when nervous waiters ask you if you want milk in your coffee, you can be sure that you are not the first foreigner to pass through. But by blending in you can minimise your effect on an area, leave it unchanged for future visitors and will be able to observe normal life more accurately. People will also be friendlier and more honest if you are unobtrusive and respect local customs. Being generous with your time and patience, playing with the local children or showing photos of your family are good ways to help narrow divides and show how you share the same principles and ideals as everyone else.



The bottom line is that there are no real ‘rules’ to travelling and any minor faux pas or social blunders we commit will usually be met with good humour, understanding and sympathy. In addition to reading up on how one can be culturally sensitive, there are a few more practical hints, relevant anywhere, which can help bridge the gap between yourself and the local people. Asking before taking photos, smiling and being charming whilst bargaining, taking cue from the locals to see how to act, complimenting anyone brave enough to help you in English and understanding how prying questions about income or your love-life are not considered intrusive in many other countries can all provide a head-start in discerning how one can tread lightly around our diverse world.



MAKING A DIFFERENCE & SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL:

Avoiding the beaten track, tourist hotspots and luxury hotel circuits can lead us to stumble across real, gritty, often heartbreaking or disturbing elements of life in less economically developed countries. 358 people own as much wealth as half the world's population, 800 million people are severely malnourished or starving, around 11 million people are homeless and 33,000 children die every day in the world from easily preventable diseases. It is likely that these shocking statistics we’re used to hearing will take on a greater significance when we witness their connotations first hand. A sense of responsibility can arise when we discover how the poverty we may come across often boils down to the past actions, foreign policy and trade laws supported by our own countries. Coming face-to-face with the probable victims of our actions, direct or otherwise, can be humbling, infuriating and empowering all at the same time. It is one of the profound ways in which travel can alter someone’s outlook, but we need to show restraint before deciding to act upon any newly found political disgruntlement.



In some states, giving money or gifts to children may pave the way to prostitution; giving to a local NGO would be more worthwhile. Whether or not one should ‘encourage’ begging at all is a difficult question, so watch and follow what local people do as it is common to see the poor giving to the poor. On the grander scale of things, one may feel a calling to make a more lasting and meaningful difference. ‘Gap year’ style projects offering work in developing countries sound like a wonderful opportunities to give a helping hand, plus they combine volunteerism with travel. Indeed, from a personal perspective, they can offer - usually at a price - a chance to integrate with a community for a short period and engage in a fulfilling and rewarding activity - but these outfits can sometimes do more harm than good for their beneficiaries.



Many overseas voluntary placements can be patronising and lack justification, with echoes of colonialism and few lasting tangible benefits for the recipient countries. Imagine 30 unskilled school leavers handing over £3000 each to a gap-year company in exchange for a 5-month teaching placement or building project in a rural Zambian school. Ignoring that such an approach can undermine local jobs, the sum paid alone, times by 30, could achieve a lot more if donated directly to the receiving NGO or community. Altruistic travellers would surely accomplish more by staying at home to fundraise, lobby and provoke awareness of the said cause.



To build on what was discussed regarding ‘orientalism’ and ethnocentricity earlier, Kate Simpson suggests that gap-year outfits play on perceptions of the ‘third world’, arguing that they offer a “highly simplistic understanding of development”...



“…one in which enthusiasm and good intentions are allowed to prevail. This simplicity is, in part, a response to the geography, or even the public face that the gap year industry presents itself as operating, a geography of homogenous peoples, a geography seemingly without history or politics.”

- Kate Simpson



There are other ways to achieve travel longevity or become part of a community. Staying in one place can give a greater understanding of a culture compared to just passing through. Finding work locally, saving up for several years or living humbly at home for half a year to enjoy the latter half travelling are all tried and tested methods of sustaining a period of travel. It is easy to tell if your skills are genuinely sought after, as you will be paid rather than paying for the privilege of working yourself - English teaching being a popular and credible example. Different places offer different opportunities and levels of pay; luckily, researching prospects in your chosen country is fairly straightforward with the help of specialist books and the internet.



ETHICS & THE ENVIRONMENT:

Travellers will appreciate the importance of sustainable living and the need to look after our delicate and beautiful planet, but jet-setting around it in fuel-guzzling aeroplanes can seem hypocritical. Just one trans-Atlantic flight can produce a third of the carbon the average person exudes in a year spent at home – that’s 3 tonnes of CO2 per passenger. There is no easy answer to this problem - air travel is the most destructive form of transport, in the UK it is exempt from fuel duty and is the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions. Furthermore, there are no penalties for the contribution airlines make to atmospheric pollution or global warming and the industry is set to triple in size over the next 30 years.



We can calculate an appropriate tax ourselves and balance our carbon output buy donating to 'carbon neutral' organisations - many have websites where you can work out exactly how much you actually owe. The money will be spent on efforts to combat global warming like planting trees. It seems very convenient to ‘buy’ ourselves out of the situation, in reality the air industry should be held accountable and we should seek alternative methods of travel where possible. Hitch-hiking is the most environmentally friendly and adventurous option, trains and busses are also a viable, if not costly, alternative in many cases and travel by sea uses a sixtieth of the energy of an equivalent flight. Making an attempt to physically reduce our ‘ecological footprint’ should go hand-in-hand with our efforts to tread lightly in a cultural sense.



AN ONGOING JOURNEY:

Travel stops time, and allows to us accept, imagine and believe more things that we would if we stayed put. It is to understand hardship, faith, vibrant cultures and a different take on what it means to be wealthy - a world we rarely glimpse outside of our TV news. Travelling is an ongoing passion and multi-sensual learning experience and there's little reason why it can't become a way of life.

posted by jjoollee @ 8:41 PM