When you travel, you become invisible, if you want. I do want. I like to be the observer. What makes these people who they are? Could I feel at home here?
When traveling, you have the delectable possibility of not understanding a word of what is said to you. Language becomes simply a musical background for watching bicycles zoom along a canal, calling for nothing from you. Even better, if you speak the language, you catch nuances and make more contact with people.
Travel releases spontaneity. You become a godlike creature full of choice, free to visit the stately pleasure domes, make love in the morning, sketch a bell tower, read a history of Byzantium, stare for one hour at the face of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna dei fusi.
You open, as in childhood, and - for a time - receive this world. There's a visceral aspect, too - the huntress who is free. Free to go, free to return home bringing memories to lay on the hearth.
Frances Mayes, from A Year in the World
I left New Zealand mid-2003, bound for Istanbul and a new lif. After two years, a Belgian guy lured me into his world, deep in the heart of Europe. For a long time I was an in-process immigrant. One day we married. These days it's about photography, a little red wine and wandering ... and so the journey goes.
this is precisely why travel appeals to me so much now. invisibility is attractive (although unfortunately very bad for me).
ReplyDeleteI never thought about it like that....hmmmm.....I need to travel some more!!
ReplyDeleteWhy bad, Van?
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely for photography :)
Everyone needs to travel more, Claudia - I'm certain-sure of it.
Three great quotes in a row...Ok, ok, you've convinced me - I'll buy the book.
ReplyDeleteI love her non-fiction work, Simon. I hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDelete