Onward - To Travel!

In The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis, he introduces a character, the artist, who enters the realm of heaven seeking to enter into the gorgeous deep heaven before him. He stands there talking with the spirit who came to meet him, and learns that in heaven, there are no famous people/artists. The artist is disturbed that he will no longer be famous or well-known. He then talks about the scenery and wants to go in to paint it, just for the sake of painting. But not for the love of the light or the beauty of it. He had lost his sense of wonder and appreciation of the beauty, and he only loved the paints themselves, and needed to paint it. He had come only to paint it. He didn't want to enter heaven, but go back to hell where he felt he was famous, well-known, and could paint just to paint. The paints were the end of his joy.  

When I travel, I seek to go with eyes full of wonder and appreciation. I don't go to just see the sights and depart. I like to stay, linger, and learn the story. G.K. Chesterton wrote that the tourist sees what he came to see, and that's it (the end), but the traveler sees what he sees. Meaning, if we travel to experience the beauty of the place, the people, the culture with open eyes and wonder, we will see much more than we ever plan. If we go because we love what we can learn about a place and ourselves, we will be open to all the wonderful things that await us.

I know this isn't quite the norm of traveling these days. Attractions seek to lure us to see the sights, and then herds of people (all tourists) pass from one thing to another, clicking cameras, arguing about the rest of the day, and halfway paying attention to what they waited in a long queue to see. This is what I try to stay away from. Give me a map and let me find the neighborhoods with charming bookshops, coffee shops, and history to learn about. Let me stroll the streets and take photos of things I admire and study as I walk. Let me sit in a coffee shop and hear the locals chatter about daily life. Let me blend in, as if I were living there, and feel the culture as it truly is (not the way it is full of tourists). I'll surely hit a few of the sights that draw tourists, but in my mind, there is much to learn about such a place, and that is what I focus on. A history that spans centuries and has meaning on where the world is today. Let's learn something from it.