Wandering and traveling are wondrous ways to unwind AND discover things about ourselves, others and the world. I really enjoyed this post and the things it made me ponder. One of my all time favorite quotes is by JRR Tolkien, you may know it, “All who wander are not lost.” Thanks again.
Faith isn't required to be a pilgrim. I'm compelled to wander as part of a desire to see beauty. I don't think all of us have this venturesome spirit. Many of us are quite content to stay at home. I think age and health play a role. Younger, healthier, individuals are more apt to wander and seek new things. The US Navy has traditionally recruited a significant percentage of their sailors from the interior of the country - individuals who, at the very least, wanted to see the ocean.
On a separate note, have you ever researched the role of the printing press in the growth of travel journals? I can't help but think that the switch from copying manuscripts by hand to the use of the printing press led to more journal copies and a greater likelihood that at least one copy of a journal would survive over time.
This post has resonated with me, I've just recently finished a long distance walk, from Porto in Portugal to Rome.
I'm not religious at all, but along my walk I had plenty of time to contemplate my curious life. While comfortable with my feelings that I'm not religious, I do think that it's possible to be spiritual and emotionally attached to the world around you without being religious.
Oh wow! What a journey! And I fully agree. Really want to do some long-distance hikes in Europe some day, especially in Spain. Gonna get started with your first post. Thanks for reading and engaging Ross. Cheers!
This is great. It raises two questions for me. First, I think curiosity is at the heart of travel (not necessarily tourism!) and pilgrimage. But what makes some people more inherently curious than others? For example, I know folks who are content to never leave their home state. (Which isn’t a criticism; I’m sure they think I’m crazy for moving abroad. To each their own, eh?) Second, it makes me think about the popularity of long distance trails. The development of the AT and PCT for example wasn’t for religious reasons, but a thru-hike does offer the promise of a transformative experience through adversity and lengthy time in nature. With their status as a bucket list item, is the driving motivation a desire for an internal journey, external achievement, or something else?
Absolutely! Totally agree with this. I think there are many reasons people seek out adventures, some of the more important ones you mention. I reflected on this more in my book where I wrote:
"Collectively our adventures have a lot to do with curiosity, challenge, transition, and personal growth. Psychologically it has something to do with the freshness of beginning something new that brightens our moods, hooked by the pursuit of serendipity. These experiences transform and alter a person’s perceptions of themselves, the world, and others. Some might do it for feelings of simplicity and renewal because they find themselves disgusted by modernity’s lingering obsession with material acquisition and disillusioned with the way things are in contemporary society.
Others may seek adventure for the sake of optimal experiences and what famed psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined as reaching a “flow” state in which “people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” Some seek adventure “to rebel against the inevitability of aging” as Taz, a 71-year-old Alabama man, smirkingly put it in his aged southern drawl. Others do it to escape from and eschew social responsibilities as well as to reflect on who we are and how we relate to the world. Adventure can also be done for the sake of doing something vastly different and making an attempt to change one’s life. We can do it to fill a spiritual void with purpose and meaning. And we do it to revolt against those who are fearful and say it cannot be done—to prove that it can be done—as was the case with Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail alone around the world from 1895 to 1898, “I was aware that no other vessel had sailed in this manner around the globe, but would have been loath to say another could not do it…I was greatly amused, therefore, by the flat assertions of an expert that it could not be done.”
Thank you for engaging and sharing your thoughts Margaret! :)
You already alluded to it, but hell no, you don't need to be religious to be a pilgrim. You need to be a pilgrim to be human. Our bipedalism, ability to scan the horizons and curious minds were designed to connect to something beyond ourselves through journeys. Call it God, the consciousness we all share, or an instinct our 9-5 and 2-4 week holiday culture has repressed.
It would have been crazy to have traveled the world in Batutta's days. We can only imagine. As for us who have the adventurous spirit...I think it's quite perplexing. Some people I know have no desire to see the world and truly are happy settled down. Fair enough. But I can't sleep sometimes. I have always dreamed of seeing more. It's an obsession. I know there are others who may feel the same.
Wandering and traveling are wondrous ways to unwind AND discover things about ourselves, others and the world. I really enjoyed this post and the things it made me ponder. One of my all time favorite quotes is by JRR Tolkien, you may know it, “All who wander are not lost.” Thanks again.
Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. And I’m an admirer of Tolkien as well. Thank you for your thoughts Jeanine! 😊
Faith isn't required to be a pilgrim. I'm compelled to wander as part of a desire to see beauty. I don't think all of us have this venturesome spirit. Many of us are quite content to stay at home. I think age and health play a role. Younger, healthier, individuals are more apt to wander and seek new things. The US Navy has traditionally recruited a significant percentage of their sailors from the interior of the country - individuals who, at the very least, wanted to see the ocean.
On a separate note, have you ever researched the role of the printing press in the growth of travel journals? I can't help but think that the switch from copying manuscripts by hand to the use of the printing press led to more journal copies and a greater likelihood that at least one copy of a journal would survive over time.
This post has resonated with me, I've just recently finished a long distance walk, from Porto in Portugal to Rome.
I'm not religious at all, but along my walk I had plenty of time to contemplate my curious life. While comfortable with my feelings that I'm not religious, I do think that it's possible to be spiritual and emotionally attached to the world around you without being religious.
Oh wow! What a journey! And I fully agree. Really want to do some long-distance hikes in Europe some day, especially in Spain. Gonna get started with your first post. Thanks for reading and engaging Ross. Cheers!
This is great. It raises two questions for me. First, I think curiosity is at the heart of travel (not necessarily tourism!) and pilgrimage. But what makes some people more inherently curious than others? For example, I know folks who are content to never leave their home state. (Which isn’t a criticism; I’m sure they think I’m crazy for moving abroad. To each their own, eh?) Second, it makes me think about the popularity of long distance trails. The development of the AT and PCT for example wasn’t for religious reasons, but a thru-hike does offer the promise of a transformative experience through adversity and lengthy time in nature. With their status as a bucket list item, is the driving motivation a desire for an internal journey, external achievement, or something else?
Absolutely! Totally agree with this. I think there are many reasons people seek out adventures, some of the more important ones you mention. I reflected on this more in my book where I wrote:
"Collectively our adventures have a lot to do with curiosity, challenge, transition, and personal growth. Psychologically it has something to do with the freshness of beginning something new that brightens our moods, hooked by the pursuit of serendipity. These experiences transform and alter a person’s perceptions of themselves, the world, and others. Some might do it for feelings of simplicity and renewal because they find themselves disgusted by modernity’s lingering obsession with material acquisition and disillusioned with the way things are in contemporary society.
Others may seek adventure for the sake of optimal experiences and what famed psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined as reaching a “flow” state in which “people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” Some seek adventure “to rebel against the inevitability of aging” as Taz, a 71-year-old Alabama man, smirkingly put it in his aged southern drawl. Others do it to escape from and eschew social responsibilities as well as to reflect on who we are and how we relate to the world. Adventure can also be done for the sake of doing something vastly different and making an attempt to change one’s life. We can do it to fill a spiritual void with purpose and meaning. And we do it to revolt against those who are fearful and say it cannot be done—to prove that it can be done—as was the case with Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail alone around the world from 1895 to 1898, “I was aware that no other vessel had sailed in this manner around the globe, but would have been loath to say another could not do it…I was greatly amused, therefore, by the flat assertions of an expert that it could not be done.”
Thank you for engaging and sharing your thoughts Margaret! :)
You already alluded to it, but hell no, you don't need to be religious to be a pilgrim. You need to be a pilgrim to be human. Our bipedalism, ability to scan the horizons and curious minds were designed to connect to something beyond ourselves through journeys. Call it God, the consciousness we all share, or an instinct our 9-5 and 2-4 week holiday culture has repressed.
It would have been crazy to have traveled the world in Batutta's days. We can only imagine. As for us who have the adventurous spirit...I think it's quite perplexing. Some people I know have no desire to see the world and truly are happy settled down. Fair enough. But I can't sleep sometimes. I have always dreamed of seeing more. It's an obsession. I know there are others who may feel the same.
I totally relate to that Brian! I’ve always felt one human life isn’t enough to see this world even if we all had unlimited time and money.