The Tourist and the Pilgrim
thefrailestthing.com
The Tourist and the Pilgrim
There are certain aboriginal tribes who get disturbed if you take a photograph of them. They’d say something like, “don’t do that, our souls are trapped in there.” The fear is that the picture imprisons the essence of the subject. Once you look at a picture of yourself, you might slip into “looking at being,” instead of “living through becoming”—yo
... See moreTravel can feel like an indulgent activity, but I prefer the philosophy of Rick Steves that it’s actually something you owe to others: learning about other cultures, seeing others’ lives and homelands, experiencing what’s important to them.
Scott Keyes • Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Cheaper, and Travel the World
no, it isn’t entirely sensible to take thousands of pictures of your life (or to undertake many of the projects that captivate us); and, no, you’re not likely to wring transcendence out of the mundane on a regular basis. You can, however, learn something about yourself and your world by doing or attempting to do these things. Even amateur hour beco... See more
But there is another kind of restlessness that can be experienced on the road, a fatigue that stems from knowing where home is but also realizing you’re not there yet—a kind of “directed” impatience.25 The first is a baseline aimlessness that keeps looking for home; the second is the weariness of being en route, burdened by trials and distracted by
... See moreJames K. A. Smith • On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts
Steps away from me, a visitor holds a camera to his eye to take a photograph of a photograph of Georgia’s unblinking face. In the moment it feels like a surreal thing to witness, but again I understand why it’s happening. Behind that apparatus, the gentleman feels that he has a surer grip on reality, as it can be difficult to fully experience what
... See morePatrick Bringley • All the Beauty in the World
“Where is this?,” implying another question: How can I get there, too? A certain ambivalence has always been a part of travel, knowing you’re a tourist but also craving direct contact with a different place. Yet algorithmic recommendations have automated that process of word of mouth and turned tourism into a conveyor belt that intrudes much deeper
... See more