We have just travelled 1700 miles, driving through 5 countries in all. I have been in my pod, skimming the earth's surface. I could talk about particular sights we saw, but I am more interested in the experience of the journey, memories, feelings, emotional attachment and detachment.
I drifted along, in a kind of daze, a lot of the time. Sleeping, listening to music, both of us singing at the top of our voices, to relieve the momentous of the road in front of us. All sorts of thoughts and random discussions taking place, individually, silently, verbally. I don't like to read when I'm travelling, in case I might miss out on something. It also allows for a more free associative experience.
Due to longer daylight hours we were able to travel further before it got dark, shortening the overall time of travelling. It made me think about mathematical time and distance, verses actual time and distance. Complex.
Staying in motorway service stations most of the way through Europe, I felt like I was in a kind of no-man's land. We were a strange community of passer's-by, drifting through space. What was everyone's story - where had they come from and where were they going? Like the airport, this non-place seemed soulless, yet was actually full of life and activity.
Travelling through 5 countries means crossing a number of borders and I've been trying to get my head round the concept of land based borders and water based borders. In Europe you can pass from one country to another easily, whereas in the UK it is more difficult being an island surrounded by water. In Europe it can be spontaneous, whereas in the UK it involves some planning, to cross a border. Water can be a good defence mechanism etc. etc. but what effect does it have on the larger scale of human relationships? Individualism. Isolation. Inclusion.
Of course, memories, language, cultural differences, habitation etc. all come into play when you travel long distances. Four months is the longest I had ever been away from England and I wondered how this length of time would effect my memory ability. What would I remember or forget, and the strength of the remembering or forgetting? How does time effect memory? And in relation and comparison to my recent experiences in Europe and Portugal versus England?
Other more immediate responses to travelling include the landscape, temperature (weather) and sound. Maybe something to talk about another time.
Where we are staying at the moment is lovely and I am still pining for Portugal.
Hi Emma. I can't help noticing that you engage your environment with your intellect before you permit a spontaneous response. This was my own way of dealing with life, I eventually realized, and it resulted in a sense of alienation. Is living in a van the outer expression of an inner condition?
ReplyDeleteHi vajra. Your comments are ringing in my ears from conversations at college when my tutor advised me that by making artwork my intellect would come out through the work. I probably overcompensate for my intelligence as I have often been put down for having a brain in the past. My 'intellect' can hinder me from making spontaneous responses. I have felt alienated for quite a long time both at a local and global level, sometimes not through choice, sometimes through my own choice - events of life. The van could be said to be an outer expression of an inner condition, though I'm not sure what you mean by the word 'condition'? The van is my home and my protector. It could also be a shield from the outside world. It could also be a two finger salute to the conventional world by choosing to live an alternate lifestyle. Whilst I can be alienated by it, through our short time of travelling, I am beginning to feel that I am part of something much bigger, which I would not have discovered if I had stayed in my home town.
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