Journal 10

Journal 10– You have one final component to plan for your trip – what you will bring. Describe how you will pack, being careful not to make this entry a simple list.

When I am packing for a trip, I always pack way too much! Packing is not a fun thing for me to do because I find it very stressful. Even when I am going to stay the night at my friend’s house for a night; my dad often jokes and asks if I going to be gone for a week. During the trip, I want to try very hard to only pack the things I absolutely need. I am going to be visiting eight different major cities so I do not want to be walking around with a ton of luggage.

            When I pack I always start from my feet up, that way I can make sure I do not forget anything very important. I am going to need my Brooks because they are nice, comfy, tennis shoes and ankle socks. This is definitely important because I am going to be walking around a lot. Since it is summer and very nice out I am going to bring a pair of flip flops too because I am traveling to several beaches, such as Ocean City Maryland. Then, I am going to pack a few pairs of shorts and not try to overdo the amount of clothing I am bringing because if I need to I can buy clothing in the cities I go to. I definitely want to get a few souvenirs when I travel and I will most likely buy a few t-shirts. Keeping that in mind, I am not going to bring too many shirts. I am also going to bring a few tank tops, just in case the weather is really hot.

            Since I am traveling to several hotels I am not bringing many hair products or body wash because hotels usually provide those items. Also, because it is going to be so hot I need to bring several hair ties and probably invest in some sunscreen. Also, I think it is important for me to bring a rain coat just in case it rains out. I also am going to bring my favorite neckless because I cannot travel anywhere without it. Obviously I need to bring my wallet with cash just in case. I think that is everything that I need to bring and just typing this out is scaring me and making me think that I am forgetting something! 

Journal 9

Journal 9 – Holy cow, Batman! Who would have guessed that travel writing (and indeed traveling) could be a business? Pick two styles of travel that we have identified so far and discuss the similarities and differences between each.

 

            The two different style of travel that I have identified with is Rick Steve’s “Faithful Travel” and Pico Iyer’s article about why we travel. I feel very connected to both styles of writing because they both demonstrate the effect travel has on a person. They are both completely different kinds of travel because one is just traveling for the experience and the other is traveling to help others all around the world. I think I connect to both travelers’ style because I have done both kinds of travels.

              I connect with Steve’s traveling and adventures because he helps out people while traveling at the same time. This made me think of the time I went on a mission trip to West Virginia for my youth group at church. I have to admit I was hesitant about going on this trip at all because I was not sure I would gain anything from the experience, but I knew I wanted to help people that are less fortunate than me. Much like Steve’s says in his video where travel to him “is spiritual and brings people together” (Steves). I like his view on travel because it is not all about the actual place you’re visiting, rather it is about the people and culture you are surrounded by. That was my favorite part about going to West Virginia because I really got to know some amazing families and experience a new way of life. It really made me understand how blessed and fortunate I truly am and I think that is so important when traveling. Although, I think it is necessary to understand and learn a new way of life; I think it is just important to realize how amazing your own culture is as well.

            The opposite of Steve’s idea of travel would be Iyer’s because he discusses his love for travel, but in a different way. It is not how the people changed him; it is about how the whole experience changed him as a person. Iyer states that” yet for me the first great joy of traveling is simply the luxury of leaving all my beliefs and certainties at home, and seeing everything I thought I knew in a different light, and from a crooked angle” (Iyer 1). He finds joy in the new and amazing things that different cultures have to offer. Although, I do think that the two travelers are similar because Iyer also says that, “but for the rest of us, the sovereign freedom of traveling comes from the fact that it whirls you around and turns you upside down, and stands everything you took for granted on its head” (Iyer 1). I think that both authors demonstrate how we sometimes do take for granted the amazing things that America has to offer compared to other countries.

Journal # 8

Journal 8– Identify one border that our writers have traveled that you think will come into play into your own explorations.

 

            I think it was difficult to just choose one border that our writers have traveled because there are so many different kinds of borders. For example, there is a spiritual border and physically passing through a border. I think the author that represents my own explorations would be “Roughing It” by Mark Twain. I really connected with his writing and how he explained his travels in so much detail. For example, he literally talks about a sage bush for a whole two pages. He states that, “its foliage is a grayish green, and gives that tint to desert and mountain. It smells like our domestic sage, and "sage-tea" made from it tastes like the sage-tea which all boys are so well acquainted with” (Twain 15). I am a very analytical person, and though it seems unnecessary to talk about a bush for several paragraphs; it is something that I connect to. I enjoy being descriptive in my writings because it makes the reader feel like they are actually there. When I am traveling I literally point out everything because the simplest things amaze me and I feel like that is one reason why I connect to Twain’s writing style and how he crosses his borders.  

 

            I also enjoy how Twain “Roughs It” in his travels.  For example, he describes how he makes his bed, “We stirred up the hard leather letter-sacks, and the knotty canvas bags of printed matter (knotty and uneven because of projecting ends and corners of magazines, boxes and books). We stirred them up and redisposed them in such a way as to make our bed as level as possible” He did not even care that he was sleeping on hard leather because he was so excited to go on his journey. I think that is another reason why I love the way Twain crosses borders. I do not want to bring much and I rather rough it when I travel. I know it does not sound ideal, but it sounds more fun to me because I can experience things in a different light. Traveling across borders the way Twain did is how I want to because I get a chance to experience the culture in a unique way. Roughing It allows me to focus on my surroundings and take everything in moment by moment.

Journal 7

            I think that there are negatives and positives to having competition among travel writers. At times, I feel like it is not necessary for travel writers to want to have the most outrageous trip. No matter where a writer travels it is most likely going to be a good or unique experience. I think it depends on the perspective of the reader as well. Some people might find that traveling to Asia, for example, is an amazing trip. Others might find that it is somewhere they do not wish to go or have no feelings towards that place. I think that it could possibly be detrimental to the piece because the author could be focusing on the competition rather than the matter at hand. Also, what if the place they visited was not all that outrageous? But he/she wants to make it look that way. This made me think of a competition I had among one of my teammates in high school while playing lacrosse. I constantly strived to be better than this one girl on my team and did not focus on the game as a whole. I think competition can be a bad thing at times because it could make people forget about what they are trying to prove in the first place. If travel writers do not focus on the beauty of their writing and where they went then it could possibly be detrimental to their writings.

            On the other hand, I think competition makes things so much more fun and exciting. I believe competition is one of the best motivators. It could make a travel writer’s piece so much more interesting because they have something to prove to their competitor. This motivation would a positive thing because the author would want to make his exerts sound a million times better because of his competitor. Overall, it was difficult for me to pick one or the other because I believe there can pros and cons to both views. Without competition there is a lack of motivation, but with competition it can be difficult to focus on the travel writing piece at hand. I think it was difficult for me to choose because I am such a competitive person, but I know my limits.

Journal 6

Is humor important to travel writing?  Use both pro and con examples to make your case.

            I think humor is important to travel writing depending on where the author is going because if it is a more serious environment there should not be any humor. For example, if you were going to D.C. and visiting the Holocaust museum then you would not want to have any humor involved because that would obviously be disrespectful. There are times; however, that I think humor can be a great asset throughout travel writing. For me, it makes things so much more interesting to read because I am the type of person to constantly joke and think everything is funny. I rather read something with a little humor that still describes the place accurately rather than a piece that is kind of boring just discussing what they encountered or saw.  

            An example that made me think of how humor is accurately put into a piece is when we discussed the author Cahill because I think humor makes his travel writing experience so much more interesting. I have never seen the effects that PCP can have on people and I think the way he describes the effects of the drug is humorous. For example, Cahill describes what it looks like to live in a drug orientated town, “thousands of chronic PCP users stumbling and lurching through the parking lot, all of them sweating and drooling, growling and barking, attacking anything that moved in their delirium, stumbling after their prey with glazed, marble eyes” (Cahill 2). I thought this was funny to see because of the way he described these people on the drug. He defines them like they are not human and states that they are “zombie like creatures” (Cahill 2). Without the use of humor in this piece it would be hard to precisely describe what this drug town looked and acted like; which is why humor is a pro because it helps me visualize places better and understand them more accurately.

 

Overall, I think humor is a good thing because it allows the reader to be so much more engaged in the reading. It just depends on what the author is writing about and how he is using humor. I also think it is a con sometimes when the author is trying to be funny, but failing really bad at it. This would make it difficult for me to pay attention to the travel writing because I would be so distracted by how bad and awkward the humor was portrayed.     

Journal 5

While Kapuscinski and Russell discuss far different subjects in their writings, both are border crossers. What borders do you think each writer has crossed? Do those borders matter to you? Why or why not?

 

            I think that the two authors are complete opposites when it comes to wanting to travel across borders. They also differ because one is going as a writer and the other is going for politics.  Russell discusses how she believes the idea of traveling has changed. She states that, “Enough! The hapless reading public don't want to read about a blindfold attempt on Everest simply because no one has tackled the mountain blindfold before. Similarly, a sweat-soaked and life threateningly dangerous journey no longer justifies a travel book” (Russell 4). I found this to be true because traveling to border is not enough anymore. I agree with Russell because travel writing stories have to have more adventure now. Travel can no longer be just about the culture and the experience, because that is not good enough. It is a shame that there must be crazy or encaptivating story behind the travel and crossing those borders.

         I believe this is why there is big difference between Russell’s idea of traveling borders and Kapuscinski’s. He believes that traveling a border is where something crazy is going to happen and he cannot wait to travel so he can experience the excitement. But his reaction changes when he learns he is going to India. For example he states how he feels about going to India, “My first reaction was astonishment And right after that, panic: I knew nothing about India. I feverishly searched my thoughts for some associations, images. names. Nothing. Zero” (Kapuscinski 9).  I thought this reaction was interesting because the mere  act of crossing a border was so amazing to him, but it changed when he found out where he was going. I believe that Russell’s reaction would have been very different, because she seems to want to go anywhere and everywhere. I thought it was interesting that Russell was willing to go to such a dangerous place. She stated that, “It's not normal for violence and death to walk hand in hand in the sunshine. Sunny days are for picnics, for lying in the long grass, for taking a bottle of water and setting out to walk across a bog” (Russell 124). Although Bosnia was filled with sunshine it was still a scary place to be and Russell knew that. I think that is how the two differ; because one is willing to go wherever and the other is hesitant but cannot wait to see what traveling has to offer.

Journal 4

I think a lot of the authors I have read in class have changed my perspective on travel and how I see myself as a traveler. I really enjoyed reading the article that Iyer wrote because he discussed the importance of visiting other places and why we do it. For example, Iyer states that “…the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new places but in seeing with new eyes. Yet one of the subtler beauties of travel is that it enables you to bring new eyes to the people you encounter” (Iyer 1). This quote really stood out to me because he described the importance of going to new places and seeing new things. I believe that seeing how other countries live their everyday lives compared to America can be really eye opening some times. I feel like in our country I am constantly and impatiently waiting to go from one thing to the next. I have never actually visited another country, but when I watch house hunters international I find myself wanting to go to every place on that show. In house hunters, almost every person moving to another country discusses how laid back and slow paced everything is there. I sometimes wish America was not so fast paced, but I do realize how amazing our country is and well off we are. Therefore, in my travels I really wish to just relax and take in the culture day by day.

This class has really opened my eyes to the importance of borders. In the Kapuscinski’s article it discusses how important borders were to Herodotus. For example he states that, “this was only about crossing the border-somewhere. It made no difference which one, because what was important was not the destination, the goal. The end, but the almost mystical and transcendent act Crossing the border” (Kapuscinski 9). I think that is one way I want to travel because I find that crossing borders, is like entering a new world. When I go on trips to visit family in Maryland, I always find myself so amused by how many different states I pass through. Some states have beautiful mountains and others have corn fields after corn fields. Not only is the environment different, sometimes the people living in these states I pass through have the most interesting personalities. I think I would love to travel more and experience new perspectives of how people live their lives.

Travel vs. Tourism

Journal 3 – Is there a difference between tourism and travel? Use Iyer’s introduction and one of the other texts we have read as well as Rick Steeve’s definition of faithful travel to make your best argument.

 

        I have never really thought about the difference between traveling and tourism till this class. Sometimes I think that a lot of people have a negative connotation against tourism. I would not consider it to be a bad thing because everyone has their own way of making their trip as memorable as possible. In Roughing It by Mark Twain, he made the simple things seem so interesting and enjoyable. For example, he writes about a particular bush stating, “It is an imposing monarch of the forest in exquisite miniature, is the "sage-brush." Its foliage is a grayish green, and gives that tint to desert and mountain. It smells like our domestic sage, and “sage-tea" made from it tastes like the sage-tea which all boys are so well acquainted with” (Twain 15). Traveling allows people to admire things that we would not necessarily be aware if we were traveling as tourist. Traveling is a way to immerse people into another culture and tourism is focusing more on the museums, sculptures, paintings, etc. I think tourism makes it difficult to look at our outside surroundings and not focus on the fascinating culture that is happening around us.

  

      I think traveling is a way to help find who we truly are, because learning different cultures and seeing new experiences can really change a person’s perspective. For example, I love when Iyer states, “We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate” (Iyer 1). Traveling is so valuable because we finally get to experience things first hand, rather than just seeing it on the news. When I went to Washington D.C. last year it was an incredible experience because there is so much history behind everything there. I think Washington D.C. is an example of a touristy place where people can still get a lot out of it, even though most people are not there to immerse themselves into the culture of D.C.

            The video “Faithful Travel” is a great way to demonstrate how traveling can also be about helping out other cultures who do not have the same lifestyle as Americans. I love how Steves notes the important of helping out others. Americans are blessed with so many opportunities and we should not take advantage of that. Traveling to places with high poverty not only allows people to make a difference in the world, but it can also change us as a person. Overall, I feel like I would much rather considering myself to be a traveler than a tourist!   

"The Highway Don't Care"

Journal 2 – Does Roughing It demonstrate a pre-interstate treatment of Primeau’s idea that “Americans have treated the highway as sacred space”? (1) Why or why not?

Driving on the highway has always been exciting for me because you get to experience so many different kinds of people from the United States. I feel like some people are constantly living in a bubble and not willing to immerse themselves into another way of life. While I was reading Roughing It, I noticed how Twain’s narration made it seem like the smallest things made him the happiest on his journey; “we saw the first specimen of an animal known familiarly over two thousand miles of mountain and desert” (Twain 13). I think this is a good example of how Roughing It allows travelers to realize things that they would not usually be excited and aware of. Twain wrote a whole few pages about this rabbit and described it with a very detailed description. I do not think that many people would be writing about a rabbit if they were not roughing it; they would be discussing the different museums and sites they experienced. Twain makes it clear that on his journey it was the little things that made the trip the best part.

            I think one of my favorite things about traveling is meeting new people and seeing the way they act compared to me. In Roughing It Twain describes many encounters he had with other people. I thought the funniest part was when he talked about the women who joined him in his journey and would not shut up. He stated that “…we suffered, suffered, suffered! She went on, hour after hour, till I was sorry I ever opened the mosquito question and gave her a start” (Twain 9). Meeting people is the best part about traveling and it allows you to learn and hear so many different adventures. Listening to the stories from other cultures can also help you realize and understand things in so many different perspectives.

            Twain describes how being from the city and traveling on the country road is a whole different experience. I have never been a city girl and I love traveling for miles and miles and understanding new things. Twain describes the luxury of being away from the city stating “… we felt that there was only one complete and satisfying happiness in the world, and we had found it” (Twain 12). Being away from the city makes you realize how simple life can be and we do not constantly have to be an in rush to go somewhere or constantly be doing something. I am not saying that loving the city is a bad thing because I like going to a big city every once in a while, but I think it is so important to expand your horizons and visit new places. Just like Primeau states, “Getting away is a chance at a new start, a special time to discover self and country…” (Primeau1). Traveling on the road can be such a great experience because you can appreciate the small things, meet some amazing people, and see what different places have to offer!

            

Gaudium et Spes

Many people dread reading Gaudium et Spes because they think it is boring and very lengthy. Even though there is some truth to this, there is some importance to reading it for our travel writing class. Gaudium helps teach people how to deal with difficulties in our society and be accepting of other cultures. In Gaudium it states that people need to “satisfy the right of all to a human and social culture in conformity with the dignity of the human person without any discrimination of race, sex, nation, religion or social condition” (Gaudium 60). I have not traveled very much, but I believe the best part about traveling is learning new cultures. Gaudium is asking people to not be judgmental or stereotypical of other backgrounds. How are we supposed to immerse in other cultures if we are constantly judging them? I think it is crucial to embrace other societies or religions to understand other people’s viewpoints. People must be open to try their best to conform to other cultures while their away. It is kind of like you get a few days or weeks to be a whole new person and experience so many new adventures. Sure it might be scary at first but I think it will be worth it in the end!

I feel like you only have one life to live and traveling helps make us experience so many great things. In Gaudium it talks about how important traveling is “Everything must be done to make everyone conscious of the right to culture and the duty he has of developing himself culturally and of helping others” (Gaudium 60). This quote made me think of the video we watched called “Faithful Travel” because he went to many countries to try and help people with his strong faith. I really think this quote fits in well to our travel writing class because it emphasizes the significance of traveling. For me traveling is not all about just visiting certain museums, or getting your tan on. I think traveling is a way to develop a person’s diversity. It may even be helpful to learn new cultures because our country and becoming more and more diverse. I remember in one of my classes my sociology professor told us in 2050 Caucasians will be the minority. Eventually we are going to have to accept other cultures into our lives. Not everyone is going to white, Christians, and English speaking. Traveling is so important and Gaudium expresses this many ways because it states to be diverse and accepting of other cultures.