Blogs
True Traveler: Unattached
Traveling Through Switzerland This story, more than any of the others, reminds me of what a true traveler is in my mind: someone who has no attachments or need to stay in one place or another. A true traveler is as free as a feather in the wind to change direction and float in whatever direction he pleases. It is a strange sense of freedom, no not have any responsibility other than to feed yourself every day and see to it that you don’t die. Getting lost is never a bad thing. This is the kind of trip that I’ve always wanted to take across Europe. With no itinerary, no plan, and nobody else, just maybe 1 or 2 other people who are as easy-going as you are.
My own father lived his life like this for a few years when he first came to the United States. After leaving the Israeli Army his only really marketable skill was welding and that’s what made him his money. His only possessions were his few clothes, his truck, and his dog, Crystal, and he bounced around the Western United States going from one welding job to another, never remaining in one place for more than 4 months. He traveled from South Dakota, to Colorado Springs, to Austin, and even to Mexico.
This is the type of person he is and the type of life he is truly cut out for; and I think that he even passed that trait on to me because even now, 1 month into my college career, I have no true longing to be home and in a familiar place. It’s true that I miss my family a bit, but it’s mainly the interactions with them only and not the “house of my parents” that I miss. I seem to have no permanent attachment and am perfectly content to just be where I am at the moment and not wish I were elsewhere.
Why not?
I agree completely. Every time I put down the book I thought about jumping on a bus and starting my own grand tour of America. This book is said to have inspired a generation and I understand why. What I don't understand is why it stopped...
This type of travel still exists, but in America, it's not looked at so positively. In Israel (& possibly elsewhere in the world), it's a right of passage. I have a lot of friends and family who have recently finished the Israeli army, and I love listening to their travel plans, because they're absolutely unheard of in the US. I have one friend who arrived in India in August with a backpack and all the money he earned after the army, and plans to travel in the area until his money runs out. The last e-mail I got from him said he was about to embark on a 20 day hike in Nepal, so not to worry if I didn't hear from him in awhile. Every time I share the updates with my parents, they laugh and tell me he's ridiculous.
Here, we go to school to get into college, and then we go to college to get a great job and succeed in real life. Traveling happens only after you've made the big bucks and need a break, and even then your travel becomes so perfectly scheduled, packing in all the museum, city tours, and beaches into a short time period, that it ends up being anything but relaxing. Yes, all the travel can drive you crazy, as it did with Dean, but so can working a high stress well paying job. Why am I paying $50,000 a semester to sit in class, when my friend is only spending $15 a day (room & board included) to learn about travel and world cultures first hand?
Free travel
I definitely agree that Sal Paradise has a real hold on what travel should be. The way in which he travels across the country allows him to understand the places he stays in a much deeper context than if he had a strict itinerary. One particular place that reminds me of this is when he meets Terry by chance in the bus and, because he has no plan, is able to stay around and learn about her version of California, one about which he probably had no idea. I have yet to take a trip like this but I can imagine it would be a very rewarding experience, making your way across a continent at your leisure.