Not all those who wander are lost
Date published 14 February, 2020
Are We Nearly There Yet?
It's the standard journey joke. Four minutes into the journey, someone must ask this.
Or, if you are visiting relatives with your children, the reality of a lengthy trip.
But for the traveller, it is not a relevant question. Because the journey matters as much as the destination. The journey is the adventure, and it is as you travel that you learn and have adventures. There are places where you pause, but only to move on again.
I was asked this recently. I had confessed that I liked to travel. 'Where to?' they quite reasonably asked. 'No-where' I replied. This sounded a bit rude, so I ventured an explanation! There is no there. I have no destination in mind. I want to wander to a place, and enjoy that place, but will soon wander on again. And I have not yet decided where I am ultimately headed to! I suspect it is the place where the van ceases to function and I must of necessity stay there!
I have no criticism of other types of travel. But wandering is the adventure for me. And often, that is a bit unplanned, a journey that contains must deviation, much distraction, much unforeseen detours to see something I had not anticipated. It is not just in the headline destinations that you meet great people and see exciting things.
In the last year, walking into a city by the river we saw an otter playing in the water. Not much before that I had a great chat with a retired fisherman as I wandered, unplanned, past a very run down harbour. Many of these musings are prompted by extraordinary things and people in what would be regarded as fairly ordinary places.
I was talking about this to someone who travelled by sail boat some years ago. They put it like this. With a sail boat we must slow down. And when you slow down the journey becomes the headline, not the arrival. Maybe you never arrive, but you never stop having adventures.
I agree.
We are happy snappers!
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