Posts Tagged ‘travel’

That’s right. You may not know but travel in the U.S. has no soul – at least not the travel that most of you know.

Maybe because I’m older now, travel doesn’t hold the wonder it once did. I remember traveling with my parents or grandparents or both when I was a kid. There was something magical about the trips. We traveled almost exclusively by undesirable vehicle (car) but something was different. We didn’t have nice cars when I was a kid. The first car my father had that I remember was a square-back VW Beetle. It was the only car we had at the time. In the winter, my sister and I sat on the floor of the front seat – that was the only place that was reasonably warm – and it wasn’t warm. Then we had a couple of second-hand Oldsmobiles. One of them was nicknamed Snicker, because it was brown and my father’s favorite candy bar. We had to physically rock it when we came to hills because it would almost come to a stop. We didn’t have an air conditioned car until we bought a four-cylinder Dodge Caravan in 1986. It had power windshield wipers and that was it. It was even a manual transmission. There was something to traveling in crummy vehicles.

During our trips in our crummy vehicles we did many of the things the Griswald family did when they were on their trip out west. We played cards, looked outside, counted the blue cars, read books. Whatever we did, it was different than what we normally did and we were at least mildly in touch with our surroundings.

Travel now with high-def stereos, I-pods, personal DVD players is virtually void of experience. Passengers are shielded from their environment by sound, vision, attention, doors and windows and a temperature-controlled climate. Passengers only passively look out the window once and a while and get out at and stretch their legs at the interstate McDonald’s which looks exactly like the one in their own town, and thus, are only distantly aware of the passing terrain. The things people do while traveling now are basically the same things they do in their living room at home. No indelible memories are created. It’s easy. It’s convenient. It’s comfortable. It’s fast. It’s travel without a soul.

I learned about soulful travel when I went to Haiti. There are several things that make travel in Haiti soulful. If you are going somewhere there are tens or hundreds of others that want to go there at the same time you do. So, you’re always packed in whatever vehicle you’re taking. Almost no vehicles have air conditioning so you’re right out in the open breathing the fresh, or not so fresh, air. Most people in Haiti don’t travel a lot so even a small trip can be an adventure. They are excited and want to talk and have fun. Travel in Haiti is also slow due to the condition of the roads. You have a chance to see things and look into the eyes of people along the road. The rocking of the vehicle is also excellent entertainment for kids. I’ve sat and watched 3 and 4 year olds sit quietly for hours – see if you can manage that on your next trip in the U.S. You’re never quite sure about the food but you can find almost every kind – and this ain’t fast food. From fried plantain and pork to something like peanut brittle, you can find it and it’s made in someone’s home kitchen. The vendors will even hop on the back of moving buses and sell the food with one hand and hold on for dear life with the other. Just another day’s work for them. It’s all part of what makes it travel with soul.

I thought about writing a paragraph here on how to make your travel meaningful. However, I’m sure not many people will read this and even fewer would do the things I would recommend to experience travel with soul so what’s the point. If you are interested, you may e-mail me at mason@biketofeel.com. I’ll be more than happy to help you. And, don’t be offended if I ask you to leave your car at home.