Journeys in the Mind
159 people found this feature helpful
Sometime
in the 1840s – and I apologise for being vague about the date – two teenage
French brothers decided they would have an adventurous holiday. One they’d
remember for the rest of their lives.
Born
on the Ile Feydeau, an artificial island in the River Loire, at Nantes, they
were fascinated by the river and the craft that plied its waters, by the ebb
and flow of commerce, and by the world of water that lay beyond the river’s
mouth – the world of ocean going ships heading to far distant destinations.
Nantes is a little over 30
miles from the mouth of the Loire. The boys, Paul and Jules, planned
to paddle a canoe all that way. Through the gloom
of winter they fleshed out their plan. They made lists of the equipment
and provisions they would need. Using a large scale map they plotted
the distances they would cover each day, the places they would camp
each night.
Day
after dismal day they concentrated on the wonderful trip they would be making
when Spring came. They assembled their kit and supplies. They wrote and rewrote
their lists. They studied their map. They immersed themselves in every last
detail of what was to be, for them, the trip of a lifetime.
But,
a week before they were due to start, Jules, the older of the two by a year,
told Paul that he had decided not to go, after all.
His
reason? The planning and the anticipation of the trip had given him so much
pleasure and excitement, that the trip itself would be an anti-climax. It
couldn’t possibly live up to the journey he had taken in his imagination.
The
reason I’m telling you this story is that the lad in question was Jules Verne. A
boy who became the man whose fictional journeys have enthralled millions. The
man who took us Around The World in Eighty Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
on a Journey To The Centre of The Earth. And to so many other places - in our
minds.
The man who realised, when still a teenager, that the most wonderful journeys can be those we take without moving from our armchairs.
All
right. I know. You can see the point I’m trying to make. Here we are, ‘self-isolating’
and ‘social distancing’ and, maybe, even scared out of our wits that we’ll
never get to make a real journey ever again.
Never
re-visit that tiny island off the Dalmatian coast where the hotel had set up a beach
bar, and we sampled slivovitz for the first time.
Never
return to that restaurant on the harbour front on Skiathos with weird English
translations on its menu, but the finest fish that a ridiculously small number
of Euros could buy.
Never
again sit on a balcony on Barbados, rum punch in hand, watching the sun set and
the pelicans diving for fish, and waiting to see the ‘green flash’.
Never
again walk along the beaches of the Algarve, sit at a cafe table in St. Marks
Square, gasp at the Grand Canyon, wonder at the Taj Mahal.
I
won’t go on. You get my drift.
Well,
you need to bear two things in mind. The first, and most important, is that you
will be travelling again, and probably sooner than you think. Travelling for
pleasure within the UK and abroad. Travelling to broaden the mind and appreciate
the wonders of this fragile blue planet spinning through the vastness of space.
Travelling because it is in your inquiring and adventurous nature to do so.
The
second point is that, while you are waiting for life to get back on track, it
won’t do any harm to think about the trips you would like to undertake in
future. Spend time – and, let’s face it, you have plenty to spare – doing what
the Verne brothers did. Get down to planning the details of that holiday you’ve
always dreamed of taking. Down to the very last detail.
And
you can do something else. Especially when you might be feeling a little low, which
is understandable, given your present circumstances.
You
can recollect past travels and relish the experiences and memories they have
provided.
If
you are fortunate enough to be with the person who shares those experiences and
memories, so much the better. And if you shared them with others who are ‘self-isolating’
elsewhere, there’s never been a better time to get in touch and say, “we’ve
been thinking of you, and the good times we had”. And raise a glass to absent
friends.
My
last article for ‘Now and Then’ was far longer than usual, and I apologise for
going on at such length. I shan’t do that now, but can’t resist mentioning that
Jules Verne got the inspiration for ‘Around The World in Eighty Days’ from
Thomas Cook’s 1872 Circumnavigation of the Globe inclusive holiday.
Got
it, in fact, from a Thomas Cook advertising flyer thrust into his hand as he
strolled through a Paris park. Instead of throwing it away, as most people
would, he read it and began a journey in his mind.
You
see, it doesn’t take much to get the imagination going.
P.S.
I shan’t write about it now, because I don’t want to witter on, but I do have
another ‘travelling in the mind’ idea I want to share with you. That’ll
be for next time, of course.
And to help with your future travel plans, take a look at Bradt Travel Guides. They are currently offering 50% discount on many of their guides and travel books, use code DREAM50.
159 people found this feature helpful
Read more
What are your thoughts?
To leave a comment, please Sign inOther Members' Thoughts - 3 Comment(s)
I envy you, if you are reading Jules Verne for the first time.
And though charity shops are very worthwhile places, are you sure you want to dispose of those "family heirlooms"? Isn't there another generation - or two - who might also like to read them for the first time?