On travel as a way of life

Reading Alain De Botton's Art of Travel unearthed many treasures, among them an account of Xavier de Maistre's journey around his bedroom. Xavier's idea was that travel was an attitude to life that comes with being in a different place and he decided to apply this in the comfort of his bedroom. The idea is a good one; pragmatic in terms of time and money (although unlikely to catch on as a summer holiday option even in a recession) but i think it only applies to some people.
The idea is unlikely to catch on with those who wish to sunbathe by day and party by night, but then they aren't "travellers" per se, not to my mind anyway. The target demographic must be people who wish to travel but can't afford either the time or the money. De Maistre identifies bedroom travel as an alternative and De Botton goes on to have a very enjoyable walk around Hammersmith but I think travel is more of a way of life than that.
Travel is an intrigue, an interest and a capacity to walk through life noticing the little things wherever you are whether that's South Luangwa National Park in Zambia or a car park in Slough; the Cathedral of Sveti Sava in Belgrade or your parish church. Travel is, as the spoken word poet Sarah Kay beautifully puts it, walking through life with your arms out ready to catch whatever falls out of the sky. Sure, you go to different places for specific things and often we want a cultural shift; we want to try different philosophies, lives, foods, buildings and people but you do so to incorporate the parts that you like into the life you have at home.
The real souvenirs of travel are less the objects we bought in markets and more the memory of things we liked, attitudes or recipes; the stories we tell are just the feelings we had when we were there.
Of course travelling is easier when in new places, more things capture our imagination but for me the true traveller travels their home town or wherever they are just as they would travel Borneo - with their eyes open. I think we retain our child-like naivety, a perspective that tells us that we are so small and that there is so much to know and see.
People say that life is a journey - only some of us travel it.

If you enjoyed this you might like to head on over to my travel blog at travelatalexleclez.blogspot.com for more.