To write about travel

To write about travel.

Not only about mine, but about what it means in general. What it means for those who travel and those who receive them or see them pass by. What it means for mankind, for society, for nature.

I've been traveling for a long time now, often on my own. I have documented these journeys in one way or another, through the lens or the pen. I have observed quietly, kept a whole heap of notes which, until now, i have never known what to think or do with. In other words, these brief snapshots, if I may say so, kept bringing me back to the same question: why travel? Why constantly tear yourself apart to go and get lost where no one is waiting for you? And if no answer can be found, what to do with all these images and torned pages?

It is worth pointing out at this point that i'm neither a journalist, nor an anthropologist, or a true adventurer for that matter. I'd like to think, not without a certain pride, that i’m not a tourist either, passively bouncing from beach to beach as planes come and go. But after all, that is not for me to judge.

The consequence of this in-between state in which I find myself is that I have, it is true, allowed myself to be carried around by whim and means for many years, without focusing my attention on a particular people, region or event. Perhaps that is why the question of why I went here or there eventually arose. Out of curiosity, of course. But one should be careful with curiosity as there is only so much a man can see and understand. Very quickly, you will have to realise that if you rely solely on curiosity, you will only end up collecting sights and memories of an exoticism without substance. Curiosity may be the trigger for a departure, but it must not be its sole purpose. It must form a canvas around itself, made of the thousands questions, reflections and emotions that will one day lead us to a wider and richer knowledge of the world and ultimately, ourselves.

Now that we have said all that, what can we expect from these pages? I may not always have studied every corner of the world with the utmost professionalism, but there are places that kept calling me back, and whose deeper nature I'm beginning to perceive. It is these gradual discoveries, the reflections they have led to, and their many parallels with the research and accounts of some of the greatest travelers, anthropologists and journalists of our time, that i'd like to talk about here.

Finally, I would like to share a different vision of travel. One that isn't nourished by endless lists of things to do and see, that doesn't seek out the next images to put on our fridges like postcards, from which we won't necessarily bring back the funniest anecdotes. Travelling has thought me a form of patience, the art of quiet observation and contemplation that I found more valuable than any frantic sightseeing.

Living the village life, wandering into town with no particular aim, choosing not the road with the most spectacular views, but the one that offers itself in the moment, getting off the beaten path (if that is still even possible), i believe there is a lot to be said about it.

Safe travels,

Claire