Travel
14/09/15 05:05
I once heard someone say that there are two types of people: nesters and travelers. I don’t buy the dichotomy. I know people who are good at both staying home and at traveling. In a way, I think having a secure home base is one of the elements that contributes to the joys of traveling. That aside, I have enjoyed traveling for as long as I can remember. There were some epic trips in my childhood. Our whole family made trips from Montana to Washington, D.C., Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle in our airplane. There were lots of other trips made by car. One year, when I was a teenager, we flew to Detroit, MI, picked up a new car and drove it to New York City, down to Washington D.C. and back across the country home.
When we had been married for just over a year, Susan and I moved from our Montana to Chicago. I made an advance trip with a pickup load of our possessions and then we went out together in our car. We traveled back and forth several times during our years in Chicago. When we graduated, we traveled with my parents and sister and brother-in-law in Europe. We’ve been to Costa Rica multiple times and visited our daughter in England when she was living there. Both of us love to travel and have had some great trips together.
I have enjoyed the anticipation of trips and the process of traveling. Not all trips have been fun only, however. There have been flat tires and being broken down on the road. I remember one time of having to have a car towed on a Sunday and repairs took several days. On another trip, we had to push start our car over and over again, traveling over 1,000 miles without a functioning starter in the car. I got good at looking for hills when it was time to park. We’ve camped in the wind and in the rain and had some nearly sleepless nights in some pretty seedy motels.
In a way, the trials of the road are part of the process of traveling. Perhaps learning to meet and overcome challenges is part of the attraction of travel.
Risk and hard work are part of travel. In generations long ago, those who traveled were seen as the strongest and bravest because of the dangers of travel. In fact the word “travel” comes from “travail,” a word that English borrowed from French and the French modified from the Latin “tripalium.” A “tripalium” was a three-legged torture instrument. Travel, for those living in previous generations, was a struggle against steep odds with no guarantee of success. It took a lot of planning, grit, courage, hard work and usually involved high expense. The stories of immigrants coming to this country in the 18th Century almost all involve the investment of all of the family’s resources. The immigrants flooding into Europe from the Syrian crisis today arrive with no material resources after having literally risked their lives in the trip.
Not every trip we take involves much risk. We have all kinds of backup when we travel. We have access to our savings back at home. We carry credit cards. We drive reliable vehicles. But we are not adverse to hard work and enjoy a reasonable risk.
Although locals may see us as such, we rarely think of ourselves as tourists. We aren’t much for the pre-planned attractions. We don’t go in for resorts that cater to our every whim.
I prefer a canoe to a cruise boat. I want to feel the weather on my face and experience the heat and cold of travel.
Pilgrimage is a concept with deep traditions in many faiths. In Christianity, pilgrimage often involves going to a place where some historic event marked the journey of our people. A pilgrimage, however, is not primarily about the destination - it is about the journey. The process of traveling is what contributes to the spiritual growth of the pilgrim. When a pilgrim reaches a destination, the journey turns towards home with the expectation that the pilgrim is transformed by the process of travel. Back at home, those who await the return of the pilgrim are also transformed by the processes of worry, prayer, and absence. A pilgrim travels for the spiritual transformation of the entire community. Pilgrims are sent forth by their communities for the spiritual health and growth of the whole.
It probably isn’t fair to refer to a personal vacation as a pilgrimage, but there are elements of pilgrimage in every trip. Our absence from the community and the fact that we have different experiences than those at home requires a certain level of telling our story and listening to the stories of others. That process can help to build the community. Even on a personal trip like this one, we carry the good wishes, greetings and even a few cards from members of the church to our daughter. And we will return with her messages of greeting when we come home. Our trip embodies the truth that our community stretches across much geography. The love that binds us together is greater than the distances that divide us.
We didn’t travel very far yesterday - only about 275 miles. We didn’t get a very early start with the church school picnic and all of the various tasks of getting launched. We’ve got about 475 left to go today. We’ll need to get an early start to arrive in daylight and be there for the birthday dinner that we have planned. There is no guarantee that we will make it on time. There are a number of things that might delay us. But that is part of the adventure of travel. We don’t need guarantees. We are willing to take a few risks. We carry with us the ability to adapt and make changes in plans. We have phones to connect and decrease the worry. It is all part of the fun of the adventure.
The modes of our trips have changed over the years and I’ll confess that we travel at a pretty high level of luxury these days, but I hope we never lose the connection between “travel” and “travail.” For me the risk and hard work are essential parts of the process.
When we had been married for just over a year, Susan and I moved from our Montana to Chicago. I made an advance trip with a pickup load of our possessions and then we went out together in our car. We traveled back and forth several times during our years in Chicago. When we graduated, we traveled with my parents and sister and brother-in-law in Europe. We’ve been to Costa Rica multiple times and visited our daughter in England when she was living there. Both of us love to travel and have had some great trips together.
I have enjoyed the anticipation of trips and the process of traveling. Not all trips have been fun only, however. There have been flat tires and being broken down on the road. I remember one time of having to have a car towed on a Sunday and repairs took several days. On another trip, we had to push start our car over and over again, traveling over 1,000 miles without a functioning starter in the car. I got good at looking for hills when it was time to park. We’ve camped in the wind and in the rain and had some nearly sleepless nights in some pretty seedy motels.
In a way, the trials of the road are part of the process of traveling. Perhaps learning to meet and overcome challenges is part of the attraction of travel.
Risk and hard work are part of travel. In generations long ago, those who traveled were seen as the strongest and bravest because of the dangers of travel. In fact the word “travel” comes from “travail,” a word that English borrowed from French and the French modified from the Latin “tripalium.” A “tripalium” was a three-legged torture instrument. Travel, for those living in previous generations, was a struggle against steep odds with no guarantee of success. It took a lot of planning, grit, courage, hard work and usually involved high expense. The stories of immigrants coming to this country in the 18th Century almost all involve the investment of all of the family’s resources. The immigrants flooding into Europe from the Syrian crisis today arrive with no material resources after having literally risked their lives in the trip.
Not every trip we take involves much risk. We have all kinds of backup when we travel. We have access to our savings back at home. We carry credit cards. We drive reliable vehicles. But we are not adverse to hard work and enjoy a reasonable risk.
Although locals may see us as such, we rarely think of ourselves as tourists. We aren’t much for the pre-planned attractions. We don’t go in for resorts that cater to our every whim.
I prefer a canoe to a cruise boat. I want to feel the weather on my face and experience the heat and cold of travel.
Pilgrimage is a concept with deep traditions in many faiths. In Christianity, pilgrimage often involves going to a place where some historic event marked the journey of our people. A pilgrimage, however, is not primarily about the destination - it is about the journey. The process of traveling is what contributes to the spiritual growth of the pilgrim. When a pilgrim reaches a destination, the journey turns towards home with the expectation that the pilgrim is transformed by the process of travel. Back at home, those who await the return of the pilgrim are also transformed by the processes of worry, prayer, and absence. A pilgrim travels for the spiritual transformation of the entire community. Pilgrims are sent forth by their communities for the spiritual health and growth of the whole.
It probably isn’t fair to refer to a personal vacation as a pilgrimage, but there are elements of pilgrimage in every trip. Our absence from the community and the fact that we have different experiences than those at home requires a certain level of telling our story and listening to the stories of others. That process can help to build the community. Even on a personal trip like this one, we carry the good wishes, greetings and even a few cards from members of the church to our daughter. And we will return with her messages of greeting when we come home. Our trip embodies the truth that our community stretches across much geography. The love that binds us together is greater than the distances that divide us.
We didn’t travel very far yesterday - only about 275 miles. We didn’t get a very early start with the church school picnic and all of the various tasks of getting launched. We’ve got about 475 left to go today. We’ll need to get an early start to arrive in daylight and be there for the birthday dinner that we have planned. There is no guarantee that we will make it on time. There are a number of things that might delay us. But that is part of the adventure of travel. We don’t need guarantees. We are willing to take a few risks. We carry with us the ability to adapt and make changes in plans. We have phones to connect and decrease the worry. It is all part of the fun of the adventure.
The modes of our trips have changed over the years and I’ll confess that we travel at a pretty high level of luxury these days, but I hope we never lose the connection between “travel” and “travail.” For me the risk and hard work are essential parts of the process.