Great piece, I like the angle from which you analyze our want/need/urge to travel. Somehow you de-trivialize travel, and explain the complex human psychology behind it.
I also liked your point about "our obsession with technological progress is a response to barriers in the way of our geographical progress."
Thanks for this feedback Monica! I think the psychology and anthropology of travel and adventure are so fascinating and surprisingly not studied enough. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😊
Hi Justin, great piece. I too am a big Chatwin fan and that book especially inspired me to want to be a travel writer. I wholly agree with your point that the benefits of travel can easily be achieved near home. In my case I find that hitchhiking is a brilliant scratch to that perpetual itch for novelty, movement, discovery and escape, as you so astutely summarised it. However, I would counter your point that these urges are entirely universal or even anthropological. I've met many people on the road who aren't interested in travel at all, they're perfectly happy where they are! Holidays if taken are taken for the sun and the sunlounger not to open the mind per se. What makes travel thrilling for the likes of you, me and Chatwin, makes it a nightmare for many! Interestingly I think Chatwin knew this deep down which is perhaps what he was trying to say in his novel On Black Hill, which follows the lives of two farmers who never leave their small patch of the Welsh borders. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I think this is a fascinating discussion that we haven't fully figured out the answers to but is a deep anthropological question that I try to unpack in my upcoming book. My first two chapters are titled 'Those Who Do Not Wander' and 'Those Who Wander: The Restless Few' to highlight this intriguing discrepancy and to explore the question of why it is that so few of us SEEM to have the adventure bug while most appear content being more sedentary and what explains that.
Broadly speaking, it could be that somehow genetically there is only a small fraction of people naturally inclined to travel and adventure--in previous eras, these were the risk-taking explorers, traders, or scouts leading the tribe to greener pastures or better hunting grounds. It could be that most humans have learned to adapt to agricultural and industrial sedentism over the centuries. Or people haven't fully adapted but have learned to cope in a variety of negative and/or positive ways as the structure of modern societies essentially clutters our lives with materialism, endless tasks and responsibilities, and hinders us from free movement.
I have no doubt humans are very good at adapting to their circumstances and lately, I've fortunately discovered healthy ways to wean off my own restlessness and be content with a more sedentary life for now but I still think we are physiologically/psychologically primed to being creatures on the move in some capacity. Even farmers are technically fulfilling that urge plowing their fields under a variety of circumstances that, one could argue, still expose them to movement, novelty, discovery, and escape.
I'll need to read that novel too! That sounds wonderful. Just added it to my list. Thanks for the stimulating thoughts and I certainly welcome more of them. Cheers! :)
Nice one, that sounds fascinating. I often wonder if there was some way to get that same sense of adventure from my daily commute across London. If I could crack that then the world would be my oyster. Or at least, London would be...! Patrick Kavanagh is a good inspiration: "To know fully even one field or one land is a lifetime’s experience. In the world of poetic experience it is depth that counts, not width. A gap in a hedge, a smooth rock surfacing a narrow lane, a view of a woody meadow, the stream at the junction of four small fields – these are as much as a man can fully experience.”
Oh I like that a lot! Reminds me of this Thoreau quote too: “Two or three hours' walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey.”
100%. there are so many adventures right in your own backyard... think of this: people pay money (probably) to travel where YOU live! I started a backyard adventure project, where I go somewhere with a reasonable driving distance that I have not seen.... once a month at minimum. There are so many things right HERE.
Well said - I agree with you fully (hence I call myself a wanderer); I wanted to add something; I had a similar thought when I was hiking a few days ago in the same area we usually do; however, we took a new trail - well, not new, just one we haven't used in a while - , and even that small change made us see the same area from a different perspective. That simple shift, (just as a shift in any everyday activity to look at it from another angle), tricks our mind to feel it's experiencing something new. Also, in your case now, I think seeing the world with your three-year-old makes every day an adventure. Enjoy it! :)
A wonderful addition. I don’t know why I find that phenomenon so remarkable but I do. I think it’s just being amazed seeing things in new ways and yeah, being able to see things now through the lens of a child is also a remarkable gift. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Great piece, I like the angle from which you analyze our want/need/urge to travel. Somehow you de-trivialize travel, and explain the complex human psychology behind it.
I also liked your point about "our obsession with technological progress is a response to barriers in the way of our geographical progress."
Thanks for this feedback Monica! I think the psychology and anthropology of travel and adventure are so fascinating and surprisingly not studied enough. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😊
Hi Justin, great piece. I too am a big Chatwin fan and that book especially inspired me to want to be a travel writer. I wholly agree with your point that the benefits of travel can easily be achieved near home. In my case I find that hitchhiking is a brilliant scratch to that perpetual itch for novelty, movement, discovery and escape, as you so astutely summarised it. However, I would counter your point that these urges are entirely universal or even anthropological. I've met many people on the road who aren't interested in travel at all, they're perfectly happy where they are! Holidays if taken are taken for the sun and the sunlounger not to open the mind per se. What makes travel thrilling for the likes of you, me and Chatwin, makes it a nightmare for many! Interestingly I think Chatwin knew this deep down which is perhaps what he was trying to say in his novel On Black Hill, which follows the lives of two farmers who never leave their small patch of the Welsh borders. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Thank you, Nico! A lot of great thoughts here.
I think this is a fascinating discussion that we haven't fully figured out the answers to but is a deep anthropological question that I try to unpack in my upcoming book. My first two chapters are titled 'Those Who Do Not Wander' and 'Those Who Wander: The Restless Few' to highlight this intriguing discrepancy and to explore the question of why it is that so few of us SEEM to have the adventure bug while most appear content being more sedentary and what explains that.
Broadly speaking, it could be that somehow genetically there is only a small fraction of people naturally inclined to travel and adventure--in previous eras, these were the risk-taking explorers, traders, or scouts leading the tribe to greener pastures or better hunting grounds. It could be that most humans have learned to adapt to agricultural and industrial sedentism over the centuries. Or people haven't fully adapted but have learned to cope in a variety of negative and/or positive ways as the structure of modern societies essentially clutters our lives with materialism, endless tasks and responsibilities, and hinders us from free movement.
I have no doubt humans are very good at adapting to their circumstances and lately, I've fortunately discovered healthy ways to wean off my own restlessness and be content with a more sedentary life for now but I still think we are physiologically/psychologically primed to being creatures on the move in some capacity. Even farmers are technically fulfilling that urge plowing their fields under a variety of circumstances that, one could argue, still expose them to movement, novelty, discovery, and escape.
I'll need to read that novel too! That sounds wonderful. Just added it to my list. Thanks for the stimulating thoughts and I certainly welcome more of them. Cheers! :)
Nice one, that sounds fascinating. I often wonder if there was some way to get that same sense of adventure from my daily commute across London. If I could crack that then the world would be my oyster. Or at least, London would be...! Patrick Kavanagh is a good inspiration: "To know fully even one field or one land is a lifetime’s experience. In the world of poetic experience it is depth that counts, not width. A gap in a hedge, a smooth rock surfacing a narrow lane, a view of a woody meadow, the stream at the junction of four small fields – these are as much as a man can fully experience.”
Oh I like that a lot! Reminds me of this Thoreau quote too: “Two or three hours' walking will carry me to as strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions of the King of Dahomey.”
Through travel, I’ve learned to see things differently, no matter where I am. I call it “living outside of the box.” 😊
JB,
100%. there are so many adventures right in your own backyard... think of this: people pay money (probably) to travel where YOU live! I started a backyard adventure project, where I go somewhere with a reasonable driving distance that I have not seen.... once a month at minimum. There are so many things right HERE.
Completely agree with you Justin! You’ve inspired me to start planning my next small adventure. 😍
That is lovely to hear that feedback. Thank you Grace!
Well said - I agree with you fully (hence I call myself a wanderer); I wanted to add something; I had a similar thought when I was hiking a few days ago in the same area we usually do; however, we took a new trail - well, not new, just one we haven't used in a while - , and even that small change made us see the same area from a different perspective. That simple shift, (just as a shift in any everyday activity to look at it from another angle), tricks our mind to feel it's experiencing something new. Also, in your case now, I think seeing the world with your three-year-old makes every day an adventure. Enjoy it! :)
A wonderful addition. I don’t know why I find that phenomenon so remarkable but I do. I think it’s just being amazed seeing things in new ways and yeah, being able to see things now through the lens of a child is also a remarkable gift. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Great read. Thank you.
Glad to hear this. Thank you Matt! 😊