Hit the road, Jack

For the Times West Virginian

June 17, 2008 12:35 am

— he Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
Clearly, the man was never in charge of family vacations.
Traveling — an everyday act of magic that leaves you in a totally different place — seems as much America’s birthright as cowboy hats and deep-fried Twinkies. What’s more iconic than Route 66, more anticipated than your senior trip, and — very possibly — the most life-changing experience you’ll ever have?
(Ahem. Besides the WVU football season.)
A poll of Fairmont Senior students yielded surprisingly uniform results. In fact, no one used a word less enthusiastic than “enjoy.” Aaron Pilkington, the lone naysayer, described it as “one of the seven levels of hell” — before adding “But really, I love traveling.”
So what’s the draw?
Obviously, the anticipation of fun helps. The Magic Kingdom alone drew 17 million visitors last year, the number one vacation spot worldwide. Furthermore, the Travel Industry Association helpfully tells us that one in ten people choose a beach when planning their vacation, while camping remains at the top of outdoor trip activities. Just try to count the number of friends you have who’ve abstained from all three destinations, and you’ll realize their ubiquity.
Interestingly, none of Fairmont Senior’s poll responders cited ‘fun’ as a reason for traveling — in fact, no one even specified a destination. Could it be that we travel less “to” a place than “for” it?
“I love to travel and visit new places,” Kathryn Shields said. “Travel allows me to see that, though we speak differently, enjoy different things, and call different places home, we all have a lot in common.” That’s not the typical tourist experience, but she’s not the typical tourist; instead of seeing the sights of a landmark location, she prefers to “learn about the history and culture of each new place.” That’s great and all, but — considering that the world contains so many theme parks and so little time — isn’t it kind of preposterous?
Apparently, not so much. Further questioning of Fairmont Senior’s finest led to a consensus, a near-mythical event seen only during East-West week and the last day of school: Travel is, all said, an eye-opener.
“You gain so much more knowledge of other places with first-hand experience than you would from just reading a book,” Josh Singleton said. “Books may give us knowledge about a place, but it can’t give us the depth of the experience.” Perhaps seeing, despite all arguments to the contrary, really is believing. Keep in mind, the best-selling books about places tend not to be travelogues but guidebooks — a peculiar branch of writing that leaves all the details up to your own making.
That’s not to say that it’s all cake, of course. Very few respondents said they tolerated travel time, much less liked it. “Even though I love new places and friends, I hate the getting there,” Leah Nestor said, citing a childhood tendency towards travel sickness. Nausea due to motion — a different bird, but still frequent — is especially common among people who are focusing on something other than the beautiful scenery outside the car. That is, if you’re reading, looking through your iPod, or trying to find the next turnoff on the map (good luck!), you’re vulnerable.
There’s only one problem: Traveling can be kind of, well, boring.
“I don’t like traveling because my legs get all sore and cramped from sitting for so long,” Matt Yost said. Similarly, Johnny Leon enjoys seeing new parts of the world ... except for “long car rides with my family, especially the younger siblings.” It would seem that, as much as we love seeing new places and learning new things, getting to New-And-Excitingland is tolerable at best. Beautiful though the landscape may be, it gets boringly beautiful after, say, three hours or so.
Michael Lyden disagrees. “My favorite part of traveling is not arriving at my destination, but the journey there,” he says. “I love observing the landscape as it passes by my window, noticing both the familiar features and new sights.” And, Danielle Price said, it’s worth it — “Traveling allows people to experience life beyond their hometown.” Whatever your stance on transportation, its returns are amazing.
This summer, reconsider your strict stay-at-home policy in favor of going someplace new. Challenge your dislike of trains, planes, and automobiles; they’re just part of the journey. After all, as Lao Tzu said, traveling is all about the experience.

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