Anticipation
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only
one page”, this is probably my all-time favourite quote written by St Augustine.
I want to travel. All my life I have wanted to travel. To discover new places,
the remoter the better. It is only when traveling
that I feel truly at peace with myself. Any journey is for me as much a journey
of self-discovery as of discovery of an unknown environment. In just under two
weeks we leave for Concarneau. It is still too soon for me to have the butterflies
in my stomach as one might have just before leaving on any trip, but excitement
is mounting. This time anticipation for travel is greater than usual. I would
classify myself as a very spontaneous and last minute traveller. On the 3rd
of January I went to Paris, I booked the flight the day before!! This time
planning and research have gone into organizing the journey. I think this is
the first time I've read a book set somewhere and then specifically planned to
go and visit that place. The idea of participating in Charlie’s doctoral
research into Literary Tourism just gives the trip all the more value. The build-up
this time is greater, I’m getting more excited as I write this. I hope the
weather is good because as Simenon says in The
Yellow Dog that “It takes but a single sunbeam to transform Concarneau”.
Augustine is often depicted at his writing desk, for example, in the Botticelli (1480) painting, now in Florence, and Antonio's first entry to the Unknown Town travel log puts me in mind of these images. I can picture him pondering late into the night over what to set down but, like Augustine, the results of these long deliberations are well worth it. A rich and highly literary start. Very many thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post Antonio. Travel, and in the broader sense leisure, were regarded as the opportunity to improve oneself in antiquity - this aligns I imagine with this sense of traveling to find yourself. That said, I'm reminded of the Buddhist (I believe) notion that if you cannot find 'happiness' (or self-fulfilment) within yourself, i.e. where you are at this present time, you won't find it anywhere. If we need to travel to find 'happiness' what does it say about our contemporary lives? I'm also looking forward to visiting Concarneau early July when I'm hoping we'll be blessed with a few rays of sunshine at least :)
ReplyDeleteDude - you are quite the thinker - your wander lust reminds me so much of your mum (my sister). Enjoy connecting the global dots - we need people who know the world so it can change! Put Davos on your list!
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