“Journeys are the midwives of thought” said Alain de Botton. Anytime we come into contact with something new, we put it into the context of past experiences and sensations. This, done consciously can be revealing as to what we think about, how we go about it, and why.
Visiting a new city, I begin with researching what cultural attractions the city has to offer before making some kind of plan of what I’d like to see. What a city contributes to culture is what it uniquely has to offer. These unique differences beg the question “Why the difference?” as well as stimulating passible answers in our head and further questions. It could be anything to a certain square or market to a certain painting in a museum or a style of architecture to all manners of people that stimulates our desire to see, hear, smell, taste, and learn more – in other words: travel more.
De Botton’s use of the word “journey” here is accurate because, at least in my world of traveling, you haven’t really seen enough of a city unless there’s blisters on your feet. I’ve hiked many a city, spending most of my traveling days on my feet wandering through neighborhoods one by one, museums, boutiques, wondering which restaurant to wander to next. My thoughts in this state can not be written down. Mostly it’s a matter of what catches my eye- maybe a red telephone booth on streets reflecting white with rain or a hand spun hand dyed hand knitted crop top, or giant tapestries depicting events too numerous to register at once. Other times, more of a small investigation takes place. For example, I read the plaque next to a piece of art I want to know more about or take special care to visit someplace I heard of and want to learn more about and experience for myself.
My favorite act of curiosity in the city is people watching. The best place for people watching in the city is escalators: either looking at people passing you on the left as you stand on the right or the people on the escalator going in the opposite direction. Although this necessarily takes place on a journey because I’m not from a city, I do not experience thoughts during this activity of the curiosity of people. I don’t form opinions or develop plans while I am doing this although perhaps towards the end of the trip I may remark “this is a very well dressed city.” Maybe when I return home I’ll be better dressed. However, most of my brain’s activity in the city is taking it all in and processing new images, smells, sounds, whatever. I suppose I’m less of a thinker than de Botton because personally journeys create more subconscious inspiration than thoughts.