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It’s been a while.
Even though the blog’s been quiet, I’ve been active and reading the mail from readers, I know that you’ve been beating a path through life too, sometimes with a machete and other times with a smile.
For over a month I went back into the psyche and lifestyle of a traveller. I did it cautiously but also with the intention to relieve myself of a certain weight and to live again the duality of the Brave Traveller. Sometimes you forget what it’s like to be that ‘other’ person and I quickly found the state of truth that every traveller finds, that place we all land in that smells something of lime and freedom but with the forecast of dissatisfaction, an ill wind that tastes of metal and clanks like chains.
‘We careened through the night, drunk on love and hate and pure, sweet air. The lights meant nothing to me. They just blinked. They just blinked and I laughed because it was the thing to do.’ (Holding in)
The impact of this Switzerland, divided into its four language groups and differing cultures can be seen clearly in its politics. Everyone knows that Switzerland is inherently 'neutral' and that this neutrality has lent Switzerland opportunities to flourish in banking, for example, in the pre-WWI era. More recently, however, Swiss conservatism has stretched to new challenges. Europe is undergoing a radical shift and in its battle to consolidate and unify as a continent, Switzerland's internal divide has proved a formidable foe against unification.
In 1992 the Swiss were given the choice to join the European Economic Area. The majority rejected this proposal. The dividing line, not surprisingly, followed the border between the German and French speaking areas. The Germans said no. The French were in favour.
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If we are always arriving and departing it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things
- Henry Miller
We often call the landing place after our forays as our attempt at 'settling down.' We look for a city, an apartment, a place we once knew or lived in that feels comfortable and we 'settle' for a while, trying to get our breath back from the wild ride that saw us throw our money and sometimes our common sense out the window in our hunger to live life to the fullest. And as such, there's nothing wrong with that but with such a distinction at play, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to see life after travel as anything but an anti-climax. Real life catching up on us. The loss of freedom. Horrible.
So we 'settle' and as we succumb to a new reality that tells us that the life we had was 'the real us' and the life we now inhabit is somehow not, we secretly hunger for that other us. The crazy one, the creative one, the one that danced until the sun came up and dreamed of buying a farm and housing endangered Costa Rican caterpillars. We want that person back adn the more we step into this other reality, the more we crave for a hit. Any hit. A jump across the ditch to New Zealand. A short trip to South America. A little jaunt to the US. Anything to make us feel that other person again.
One of the first things that visitors to Switzerland might encounter is the severe Swiss mentality. And not in any one sphere but a way of looking at life that pertains to every facet of their lifestyle. The Swiss live in a regulated environment where everything from washing days to automotive ownership to children's future careers are carefully regulated and controlled. Punctuality and being polite at all times is seen as standard social skills for anyone who plans on making any friends in Switzerland and it's a given that if you were to attend a job interview and you were late, you would not be deemed suitable.
The difficulty in discussing Switzerland is that this small country, of around 7 million native Swiss is divided into four different languages and therefore four different cultures. The German speakers make up most of the numbers, at nearly 75%, the French are at 20% and the Italians at 4% and lastly, there is a small sector of Romansh speakers at 1%. These four areas of Switzlerand all operate according to the greater laws of the country but at grass roots level, they work quite differently.
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All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.- Martin Buber
The place of arrival is a mysterious culmination of pleasure and disappointment. We travel to arrive, or so we think and when we do finally set our suitcase down and nestle into the comforts of a lengthy stay, be it weeks or years, we secretly wonder if we did something wrong. Shouldn't it feel like the end of Titanic? Where's the choir, the heated music, the kiss that ends all kisses? Where's the climax?
We begin to unpack and we pull out the souvenirs from our weekend away to Bali or the cruise along the Mediterranean or the trek into the Himalayas. Our smile shrinks. These souvenirs now hold more meaning than we'd originally intended.
Coming home, we place our cheap wooden remains of another life on the mantelpiece and we wonder.
What happened?
Switzerland is a place of mystery and cliches. The rich, it's high standard of living, the banking thing, the cows and chocolate...it's all there and when travellers find their way to the borders of this country, they are often reassured at what they see. Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it has the smell of money and yes, it's so clean, it makes a laboratory look like a batchelor pad. But if you stay, and if you dig, Switzerland has the power to suprise and perhaps shock. It can be an uncomfortable stay and the people...because, let's face it - travel is really mostly, if not all about the people we encounter - can spin every cliche you've ever heard on its head.
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People walk around with frames around their souls. Are we born with it? I don't know, but from an early age we begin to feel the edges of the permissible, the accepted and the traditions into which we now do life. Our frame can shrink and enlarge depending on the company we keep or the view from where we stand.
Travel helps us to look beyond our frame and to look into another's. By the connecting of minds, ideas, a common view, we find that our own frame begins to shift and bend and before, what was an encumbrance has become another perspective. The brave traveller understands this and uses every opportunity to rid himself of the fear that the frame is all there is. The frame is not all there is and it's not who we are.
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Living in Sydney, I enjoy walking through the city at night. Surry Hills is a favourite with roads lined with trees, every one a timepiece and every falling leaf is a reminder that all is subject to change. Everything and everyone is in a sense, passing through from one state into another, from one room into the next. It is while traversing the streets of this city that I look into the faces of others as they brush past me...and I think on the loneliness that glistens in their eyes and tightens the line of their mouths. And I wonder if they look at me and see the same.
From Nice we travelled our way to the Principality of Monaco. The train ride took us through picture perfect vistas, a spattering of ocean views and green hills bursting with life and colour. There is a distinctive air of wealth as one arrives into Monaco. Even the train station is a beautified version of public transport found anywhere else in the world. We immediately got lost and had to ask a local standing on the platform for our way out. Once outside, the day ahead of us promised to be one of warmed sophistication
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When we step outside our doors, we rarely expect the day to bring anything more than what we managed the day before. It takes a series of decisions to force us to seek out the red pill and swallow it whole but some manage it.
And they never look back.
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No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ~Lin Yutang
The French Riviera is a destination with its name in lights. For as long as we have had brave travellers, we have had the Riviera so it's difficult to write about this destination and yet bring something new to the table. My first trip to this part of France was not to oggle at the sights or sit on the beach but to champion a much more worthy cause - that of a good friend and her husband's endeavours to change their life. From 9 to 5 office jobs to working their way around Europe on super yachts, their dream was to woo their way on board some generous man's boat and work as deckhands. Their story inspired me
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No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ~Lin Yutang
The French Riviera is a destination with its name in lights. For as long as we have had brave travellers, we have had the Riviera so it's difficult to write about this destination and yet bring something new to the table. My first trip to this part of France was not to oggle at the sights or sit on the beach but to champion a much more worthy cause - that of a good friend and her husband's endeavours to change their life. From 9 to 5 office jobs to working their way around Europe on super yachts, their dream was to woo their way on board some generous man's boat and work as deckhands. Their story inspired me
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The truth of the matter is that the traveller barely has time to write home to let family know they still live, much less the energy to press pause and attain the silence needed for any type of internal study. Your mission is to remain captivated by the Carnivale of the world, rather than the deep sea exploration of your own inner terrain. But how long before the bubbles of discontent break the surface?
Como is a favourite little spot of mine. It lies across the border from Switzerland and is a small alcove of Italian good humour. The history of this area is quite simple – got rich thanks to the Romans early on, then was destroyed by the Milanese in 1127 and after it was rebuilt, got rich again thanks to Milan. So it’s enjoyed a fair amount of good fortune thanks to various benefactors and it shows. Como has a beautiful walled old city and there are various points from which to enjoy the views over the water. The first view visitors will often enjoy is the one offered from the Piazza Cavour as it is situated right on the water but if you go into the old city and spend time in Piazza San Fedele, there is a view worth spending time to enjoy, behind the San Abbondio. The Baradello Tower sits behind the church and from here is a view that many don't seem to know about yet
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As a brave traveller, we are geared toward the experience. We set out from home and we know that whatever lies ahead, it will be different. And we seek that difference as a bastion to set us apart from everyone else seeking the same experience but what we don’t always set out to accommodate is the fact that experiences often impact on us negatively or that we will one day find ourselves in a situation that may leave us disjointed, bruised or damaged. In the middle of the road trip down Route 66 or that cruise down the Amazon, how do we find the time and the capacity to stop…stop, take stock and heal ourselves?
Via dell’Amore is the famous stretch of walkway between Manarola and Riomaggiore. The best time of day to travel this way is as the sun is setting, passing over the sea, diving into the olive groves of the villages and flattening into their terraces. The walk is paved and will take about 40 minutes to walk it at a leisurely pace but if you are doing the entire walk between the villages, start early in the day otherwise if you plan on doing a pit stop along the way at any of the villages, you may find yourself walking to Monterosso as the sun is going down. In the height of summer, you'll find yourself with plenty of company but keep it in mind if you are doing it in the off peak season
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Comment by Michelle
on Taking on Wellington
Travel Brave