Eye-travel



Travelling...it is an urge that I feel deep inside of me. It's like smoking or eating or drinking. Since last year, I am developing another view on travelling and I have been thinking about the reasons why I feel this urge to do this. This change in the way of viewing things started when I was reading  'The Art of Travel' by Alain De Botton. I realised that my travelling was a way of escaping normal life.  And the escaping begins when the plane takes off and is airborn: You have a feeling of transformation. No stress, no migraine, no worries, no responsability, only peace and rest in the mind. And you always want to go back to that state of mind, like a drug. Until. Until it doesn't do the trick anymore and you come to the conclusion that you are travelling for all the wrong reasons...and then everything you believed to be important is upside down.

It's like most of my travel life I have been 'checking off' places of my 'to go' list, without taking the time to really feel the atmosphere & to breath in everything you are seeing. It's like looking through a lens without seeing the real object in front of you. What a pity! It's like filling up your passport without having the stamps in your brain of what this country represents for you.

In 'The Art of Travel' De Botton describes who to reconnect with nature and to see things how they really are. He uses the example of Van Gogh's painting 'Korenvelden rond Arles' . People go to a museum to see this painting, but when faced with the real landscape, they wouldn't even notice it .This is maybe wrong. He also points out that it wouldn't be a bad idea to -literally-stand still and really 'see' the things you encounter by trying to draw them (even when you're shit at drawing). That way you will see details you never would have seen while just taking a picture. I like this thought.



I think from now on - I am gonna see my escapism from another, more positive, angle.
When on holiday all your usual habits are taken away: You come to the conclusion that you don't need your cell phone all the time, and that you don't have to check your facebook every five minutes. Away from all the daily slumbers, you can take the time to reconnect with who we really are- and that is the real importance.
Also travelling gives us the opportunity to see our life from the top downwards- as sitting on the top of a mountain-something you cannot achieve in daily life.


And last but not least, the world is a beautiful place. There is so much to explore, so many cultures to learn from, so much nice food to eat,...
And we are all looking for beauty and beauty is perfection.
And we all search perfection.
It can be found in the small things, believe me


Ok, now where is my credit card, I feel like booking the next trip!!!!!

















Love,

Liesielisa

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