Heading Home
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It's been a pleasant (ahem) afternoon spent at JFK, shuttling from Terminal 1 (where I got booted off my flight with Penelope due to an unpublished policy change about pets on board--losing said flight, with the promise that I can use the flight as a future credit...sure at 3:12 AM on the second Wednesday on a single month during a leap year), to home, leaving Penelope with a neighbor (after dashing to the vet this morning for her travel certificate), and back to the airport--this time to Terminal 4, after purchasing a new ticket. So much for starting the new year solvent. But now, I'm headed home... to Mexico City, where I'll meet up with Francisco, who has just returned from Cuba. And speaking of home, check out Eric Daams' interview with little ole' me over at http://www.travelblogs.com, in which he asked me a darn good question about home. If you haven't visited travelblogs, I recommend it-- I especially recommend his recent interview with Craig Heimburger, which resonated with me for a few reasons. Here's a bit of what Craig--currently living in Peru with his pregnant girlfriend and her family--has to say about himself: "I am self-soothing. I do not need or desire 'roots.' This, coupled with an inquisitive personality, is what makes me the emotionally equipped traveler that I am today." I'm glad there are some emotionally equipped travelers out there, because today I've had my doubts. What's home for you? |
Loved the interview on travelblogs. Have you checked out the site Literary Traveler (http://www.literarytraveler.com/)? It's interesting to see how other travelers explore the relationship between literature and travel. Like you, I'm rarely inspired to visit a place just because I've read about it--but once I'm there, I find that literature about the place greatly enhances my experience. I often cite books like "The Poisonwood Bible," "A Fine Balance," or "Birds without Wings" as some of my favorite travel books--not because they're about travel, but because they offer incomparable insight into the DR Congo, India, and Turkey, respectively--and that makes the travel experience so much richer.
I'd love to see a "top 10" literary guides to each country. Ie, the best fictional books that really capture the essence of a place. What do you think? :)
Oh man! I read "A Fine Balance" a few days before I headed to India, and it was so soul-destroying that I nearly canceled my trip. (In other words... fantastic book.)
Hi, Jenny-
Thanks for your feedback and the link.
I absolutely agree with you, and I'd be interested in collaborating on a top 10 literary guides to each country with you-- interested?
Loved the interview. It was a great insight into what you've been through. Will check out the other interviews.
Definitely agree with Eva on being able to have both as well (desire roots yet have an unbridled passion for travel).
Thanks, Lola!
Julie
"I am self-soothing. I do not need or desire 'roots.' This, coupled with an inquisitive personality, is what makes me the emotionally equipped traveler that I am today."
Darn. I always worry that I need and desire roots too strongly to really be a lifelong traveler. I keep hoping that it's possible to have both - that having a home can emotionally equip me. Does that make sense?
In the end, (god forbid) if I ever had to choose between "travel" and "home", I'd choose home. That being said, "home" isn't nailed down for me yet. Right now it means being in Canada, and being reasonably close to family and friends.
"I keep hoping that it's possible to have both."
Me too, Eva!
Just read the interview with Eric Daams, great stuff!
I love hearing other people's travel background or "first travel experience" stories - it's really interesting to see how everyone else got hooked, and then try to look back and figure out where it started for me.
(I only left Canada for the first time when I was nineteen... My 7th anniversary of international travel is coming up in March!)
are 'emotionally equipped traveling' and having 'roots' mutually exclusive? personally i think this guy is full of it. riding on bus lines and staying in hostels does not constitute 'throwing away the security blanket'. this guy spends the same amount in a month that a person in the states would reasonably pay for rent and utilities. and now he's shacked-up at his girlfriend's folks' place and somehow manages to be baffled by the fact that her siblings live there too?!?! and has the audacity to get bent if nobody pays the internet bill!! am i supposed to be impressed that he's 'only complained about four things' since he's been staying there, presumably for free?!?! here's a guy who's motivated by fear, who had to leave America because he was 'scared' of consumerism. so he knows he doesn't have the strength to stand by his values, so he blows town and then proceeds to rip the very structure that has provided him the financial freedom to go unemployed for two years. are you f#%^ing kidding me?! he remembers how much he hated moving around when he was little. what does he plan to put his little one through?
All I said was that those two particular ideas resonated with me... I found him interesting. Didn't say I condoned his behavior-- what do I know about him?
Nothing.
What did I know about what kind of person he was before he hit the road?
Nothing.
yeah, i wasn't criticizing your impressions, just offering my own. that guy burns me out, but i guess your blog wasn't a good place to express that.
A great post and interview Julie--I learned a lot more about you. I hear you on the micro-narratives.
Thanks, David! Hope you checked out some of the other interviews on the site as well.