“What gives value to travel is fear. It is the fact that, at a certain moment, when we are so far from our own country (a French newspaper acquires incalculable value. And those evenings when, in cafes, you try to get close to other men just to touch them with your elbow), we are seized by a vague fear, and an instinctive desire to go back to the protection of old habits. This is the most obvious benefit of travel. At that moment we are feverish but also porous, so that the slightest touch makes us quiver to the depths of our being. We come across a cascade of light, and there is eternity. This is why we should not say that we travel for pleasure. There is no pleasure in traveling, and I look upon it more as an occasion for spiritual testing. If we understand by culture the exercise of our most intimate sense – that of eternity – then we travel for culture. Pleasure takes us away from ourselves in the same way as distraction, in Pascal’s use of the word, takes us away from God. Travel, which is like a greater and a graver science, brings us back to ourselves.”
Albert Camus, Notebooks 1935-1951
2 comments:
Fear of being stuck in the same place and the same life, maybe...
Though I agree travel in and of itself ain't glamourous the older one gets especially, there is a lot of freedom to run away from one's responsibilities if not demons back home (I still haven't consulted a labour lawyer and hope my 'problem' will just go away!).
Seriously though, you know I'm basically a winter refugee and feel welcomed and at home wherever I go, eh? Just grateful to have the option to combine work and travel for a change of scenery while I'm still able and eager to learn and experience other cultures. The world is changing faster than one can keep up with and things we take for granted now may not be so accessible in the not too distant future.
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