The value of travel is not inherently dependent on physically being in a new place. De Botton highlights this in his text, The Art of Travel, describing how one can experience “travel” without leaving their own neighborhood, and even remaining within the walls of their own bedroom. Engaging with the work of de Maistre, de Botton emphasizes the importance of looking past what we see at first glance in order to truly experience a place. De Botton concludes that “the pleasure we derive from a journey may be dependent more on the mind-set we travel with than on the destination we travel to” (de Botton 242). Travel is enhanced with true intentionality. De Botton’s experience in Provence, the details of which comprised my personal favorite chapter of his novel, reinforces the idea of being an intentional traveler by looking past our original views of a place. When de Botton first arrives in Provence, he stops on the side of the road to take in the view of an olive grove, but is left wanting; he feels a bit disappointed, while the view was nice, it was not breathtaking or anything near sublime. However, after he indulges himself in the history of the region, especially the work of Van Gogh, he views the landscapes with a newfound appreciation. It is my belief that the importance of travel can be wrapped into two words: intentionality and history. The history of art, of beliefs, of traditions and culture, the history of everything that makes a place what it is today, and the eagerness to learn about all of these aspects is what makes that place worth traveling to (even if we cannot do so physically).
Travel, truly enriched travel that is, allows us to not only widen our horizons but to see them in new lights. In my experience traveling to new places, I have been overwhelmed by a feeling that I must be missing something, a confusion when a place does not take my breath away the second I lay eyes on it. This is again similar to de Botton’s initial experience in Provence; as a human race, we have become very accustomed to the apparent importance of immediate responses (de Botton 182). It is no secret that we want everything quickly: we want faster internet speed, fast food, faster transportation. So, it is natural that we expect to be able to experience travel quickly as well. The second we land ourselves in a new place, we want to be blown away by the beauty of it. However, we often do not yet understand what makes the place beautiful. As I said, we need to be intentional about allowing ourselves to truly experience a place. We can experience places through the lens of artists, writers, archeologists, and more if we allow ourselves to be enveloped by the history of the place. However, this intentional way of travel requires effort: research of the factual and cultural history, communication with those who know the place well, discussions of the importance of the place, and the impacts it has had on society.
Intentionality is a trait that I strive to live all aspects of my life by every day, but I think that it has even more value in terms of both travel and education. I believe that in order to make the most of any trip or class, it is important to be engaged in the material. I have learned throughout my time at Mercer that doing the bare minimum can earn you an A occasionally, but it often will leave you with little to nothing else to show for the class. In subjects where I did not apply myself, I am unable to draw from any of the material that we covered, because I did not engage with it, and therefore realistically did not learn very much. Over the past couple of months, I have found that this is all the more true for an online class setting, where it can be easy to fall into a slump of only doing the bare minimum. I had to work very hard this past semester to keep myself motivated and engaged, despite the unruly circumstances. Thus, it is important to me that I utilize as many of the provided resources for the course (and even some supplemental ones) as possible, and truly throw myself into our discussions. This class, and even my entire philosophy minor, was not a necessity for me; I chose to delve into the course because the topic and prospect of being part of such a unique program appealed to me. So, why would I want to cruise along doing the bare minimum? Much easier said than done, I find it helpful to write myself little reminders in my planner about the importance of engaging in the material we are covering. Though it may sound silly when I flip to a new page and see a little note that says “remember, you chose this, you are lucky to be taking these classes,” it freshens my perspective and my ambition to immerse myself in our materials. Again, as de Botton suggests is essential, I am aiming to “travel” in the mindset that best allows me to engage in the material and soak up the experience.
I also believe that it is important for me to remember and deeply consider who the fellow peers in my class are. I was excited to learn that our class was not only made up of undergraduate students but people from all stages of life, both older and younger. I am a very big advocate of intergenerational mingling and the value held in interacting with those of other age groups. I learned the importance of this throughout my time working in an assisted living home; I grew to love interacting with my residents, and learned from them and was inspired by them each and every day that I went into work. Similarly to how it can be easy to fall into a habit of doing the bare minimum for a class, it can be easy to fall into the idea that we have little to learn from other generations. The clash of generations is a phenomenon that has gone on for centuries, and will likely continue as time progresses, but I believe that it is important to make an effort to learn from those in other generations. Therefore, I am grateful for the opportunity to have discussions with members of other generations; it is so interesting to see their views on subjects, because they often bring up factors and features that I had either never considered at all, or had considered in a completely different way than they did.
I truly am excited to dive deeper into our content for this program, and I am grateful to be a part of such a unique opportunity. I believe that de Button’s novel fits perfectly with our program, despite the fact that for most of it, he speaks of actually, physically traveling places. It is more important to be sure that you are intentionally delving deep into the history, art, and culture of a place than it is to physically be there. I look forward to continuing our journey through the history of Greece from the comfort of our own homes during these uncertain times.
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