One Can Never Step Foot in the Same Country Twice: The Illusion of Conquering Countries Through Travel

There's something odd about checking off a country on our to-do list when we recognize everything is constantly changing. What are we to make of this uncanny way of looking at the world?

Image generated using Canva from the prompt Heraclitus standing in a river.

“It is not possible to step twice into the same river according to Heraclitus, or to come into contact twice with a mortal being in the same state.”

-Plutarch

I have one of those world maps that allows you to scratch off each country after you’ve returned from your travels. No doubt, this can feel good after a long journey home. There is a sense of accomplishment that we’ve been somewhere new and perhaps broadened our minds. It is also a useful reminder of the places we’ve been and still dream of going. Memories and stories can be embedded in these maps. Maps, like books, are some of our greatest sources of wonder. However, some problematic things with this activity are worth reflecting on as well.

What happens when we scratch off a country from our to-do list? What does it mean to tell someone we’ve been to x number of countries? We may recognize how strange and undeserved it feels to scratch off a massive country like Russia, the United States, China, or India after a brief stint there. Yet, the same applies to Andorra, Malta, Barbados, and every place on the map, regardless of size. Even if we’ve spent months or years in these places, in what sense can we ever truly know another country? Do we even know our own country?

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, “One can never step foot in the same river twice.” Likewise with travel. Though we may return to a coveted destination time and again, when we look closely, we never step foot in the same place twice. Okay, so the hotdog stand is now a hamburger joint, and a few trees have died since I was last here. So what? Things change, but not always in any meaningful sense. Fair point.

Since we live such short lives, we may not recognize how everything is in a constant state of flux. No, not every minuscule change is relevant or interesting to us. However, this is nonetheless a strange phenomenon. Even we ourselves, our bodies and minds, are susceptible to this flux. In what sense are we the same person we were fifteen years ago? We’re often startled when we haven’t seen a nephew or niece in a year and are surprised at how big they’ve grown in such a short amount of time.

While everything around us is constantly changing, and most of these changes go unnoticed, there is undoubtedly an interesting ephemeral nature to everything. This is worth reflecting on more because I think we often forget to notice these changes and often find ourselves unsettled when we do. What are we to make of this uncanny way of looking at the world and our travels in it?

It follows that, in some sense, every place we travel is always new. To me, this is the humbling aspect that travel and adventure offer us: an opportunity to look for and appreciate the novelty in our world. I envision one day returning to the Appalachian Trail. I know I would not find the same trail I did in 2014, because the Appalachian Trail isn’t just a trail, but an experience comprised of the many other unique wanderers we share the journey with. Even the physical trail will have likely shifted, lengthened, or shortened and new places to lay one’s head will have sprouted up and old ones will have gone out of business, burnt down, or changed into a hardware store. This fleeting nature is what makes human life magical to me. Our task then is to learn or remind ourselves to appreciate and soak up those finite moments while they last because they will never be the same again.

When we look at the world this way—whether it be a list of countries, mountains to climb, or trails to hike—these innumerable life experiences we’re cultivating are clearly no longer conquerable but are instead inexhaustible. This should give us some sense of relief in knowing that we can never fully conquer things in their totality. For years, I’ve had an insatiable appetite for travel and getting the most out of my adventures. I wracked my brain with worry that I would not be able to travel to as many places as I desired in my lifetime.

However, lately, this reorientation of my thinking towards slow travel, abandoning the bucket list style of travel, and learning to appreciate the novelty of existence has somehow magically quelled my insatiable appetite. I’ve found some sense of peace in knowing that I’m not going to see even a fraction of the world I dream of visiting, not only because of the limitations of finances, time, relationships, and responsibilities to uphold but because of the very liminality of existence. Seeing it all cannot be done for it is an illusion. The minute the airplane wheels lift off the tarmac, the country we leave behind is already well on its way to becoming something new entirely, albeit gradually.

All of life is this way. Every country we visit, every person we engage with, and every day that goes by is a snapshot in time, so harnessing the ability to slow down, take it all in, and make the most of those moments is the only objective we’re left with. As Muhammad Ali famously put it, “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

Thanks for being a fellow traveler with me through this read. Much more to follow.

Cheers!

-JSB