First, I recently finished a book called The Coldest March, by Susan Solomon, which is about Robert Scott's fatal expedition to the South Pole. I thought it was a great book and would reccomend it to anyone interested in Antarctica, weather, and unbelievably epic adventures. Anyways, one of my favorite quotes from the book came from Apsley Cherry-Gerrard, a member (and assistant zoologist) of Scott's team. Cherry-Gerrard was part of a team of three men who ventured out in the middle of the Antarctic winter to attempt to collect the first specimens of Penguin eggs from a Penguin rookery. Their little excursion was epic, and is described in a book by Cherry-Gerrard (cant remember the title, but it's something like "The worst journey ever").
Anyways, the quote of interest came from after C-G and others were rescued from the Discovery hut (right next to the current day McMurdo Station where I stayed), C-G lamented the return to "civilization" that was the Cape Evans hut where Scott and the rest of the men were.
The luxuries of civilisation satisfy only those wants which they themselves createI really like this quote, and it is something I think about everytime I head into the backcountry (although certainly the luxuries of civilization -- e.g., fancy tech gear -- permeate these experiences). However, it is a nice reminder that living simply can be fulfilling, and against getting caught up in a materialistic lifestyle.
OK... so without letting that digress even further... One thing that has inevitably happened as I´ve been travelling is that I´ve been reading alot. Some books, some lonely planet travel guides, and a decent bit of online reading. I can´t seem to shake my addiction to the NY Times. There are always really thought-provoking op-eds and in-depth analyses of various things going on in the US and around the world.
A couple of such pieces that I´ve read recently have really caught my attention. I saw one such piece before I left home, by NY Times op-ed columnist Stanley Fish. Fish´s article -- a blog entry, actually -- is entitled Travel Narrows. Essentially, Fish argues that travelling -- immersing oneself in other cultures, marveling at the beauties of antiquity, the natural landscapes -- is a big waste of time. At first I found this funny, and then was somewhat offended. All of these things that he said were some what shocking. What? Someone who doesn´t like to travel.
It´s taken me a while to realize why I was so shocked by this, but I realized that you almost never here any educated person (which Fish is) with a platform (which Fish has) advocate so intensley for such ignorant parochialism. Sure... I´ve seen such parochialism at some level. Although generally not verbalized, I´ve witnessed the reaction some people have had to my descriptions of wanting to go to some foreign "undeveloped" country to travel (without a plan too. That´s a big thing -- if you go on a package tour, that´s perfectly understandable). But I´ve always chocked those kind of responses up as being "Well, they just don´t get it..." (a la John McCain).
Well, if Fish wants to live in his little provincial hole and never experience what the outside world has to offer, all I can say is "So long, and NO thanks for all the Fish".
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5 comments:
Haha. A former boss of mine was *just* like this. He never got why I wanted to stay on in a foreign country after we had finished whatever work we were there to do. He'd quiz me about what I was going to *do* with my time and then just shake his head in despair at the very idea of all that wishy-washy cultural exploration.
Well if I hadnt made this already obvious to you Sean, the next time I buy an american newspaper will be when im desperatley in need of some toilet paper.
I agree with Sam....my morning paper is still laying on the driveway where it fell this morning. I don't have any birds whose cages I could line, but I do support our local elementary school's paper drive! I've settled for Mother Jones and the Onion!!!
Oops, sorry about the erasure above. Too many mispelled words and no edit feature on Blogger led me to start over. Great post Sean, because it touches so close to home. I too have had many times the experience of "they just don't get it". Also, like you, I am an avid reader of the New York Times because it tends to present multiple opinions, and it does a good job of covering world news. But I also tend to read BBC, Reuters, Atlantic Monthly, and others. I've talked with many folks who think like Fish, but rarely put their aversion into formal words as he has done. He must be in a bad way to voluntarily align himself with Spiro Agnew on any subject, let alone a failed intellectual curiosity. When confronted with this I find myself nearly speechless. It just isn't something I understand. Perhaps it is somehow all genetic or could it be viral? Some of us seem to have a curiosity bug. If we aren't physically traveling, we are vicariously traveling through our reading. That you can read and travel simultaneously is pretty compulsive but I get it. I can't sit still if I am in a new place. My feet get too itchy.
p.s. more pics would be a treat
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