Journeys are the midwives of thought, and yet seldom is the act of journeying reflected upon. Reading The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton has given me a very unique perspective to travel itself, yet I find most if not all of what it says to be true. Typically, people are so excited to reach a destination that they overlook the introspective aspect of the journey itself. Whether you are travelling by car, plane, train, or what have you, the scenery rolling by you creates a constant barrage of visual stimulation, which keeps your brain much more active than any other time that you will find yourself sitting down. When sitting in a plane, I have often thought about how small all of my problems as well as my physical being are when I look at entire cities or large expanses of land below me. In the car, I watch scenes whiz by me. One moment you are looking at a group of businessmen casually chatting while walking down the street, and the next block you are witnessing a fistfight.

Even though you are constantly stimulated with new outside imagery, it isn’t an over stimulation.  Watching the landscape moving past you not only allows you to think about the physical realm of the outside, but it gives one space to self reflect and think about who we truly are. We are able to disconnect ourselves from any geographic or social influences, and become one with who we are and what we want. As De Botton explains it, “The furniture insists that we cannot change because it does not; the domestice setting keeps us tethered to the person we are in ordinary life, but who may not be who we essentially are.” This isolation creates an othering between us and our world that we function in day to day. We are not at home where we are used to are surroundings, yet we have not yet arrived at any destination to give ourselves a sense of place. We are in a state of limbo, where we can become one with our true thoughts and get a sense of place not rooted in the external, but within ourselves.

When I prepare for my trip to Los Angeles, it is necessary for me to keep in mind that I am not only just going to be in the Greater Los Angeles area, but I will be travelling by car from Olympia. Having done this trip before, I know what to expect visually; the change in climate, the drying out of the landscape, the cultural differences between the Pacific Northwest and SoCal, and the vast amount of open space between the large cities that I will pass through as I journey down the spine of the American West coast. However, it will be in much different context. When I traveled to Los Angeles previously, I was on my way to Texas, and I had found a ride there with someone that I barely knew who had family that we could crash with along the way, which took us through Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico and then finally to Texas. Almost from the get go, our personalities did not work well together, as well as the fact that we were crammed in a completely packed vehicle, altogether creating a very difficult environment to enjoy the act of travelling. We disagreed on almost everything, and that made the overall experience tainted with a shadow of annoyance.

This trip, I will be alone. I will have the mental and physical space to critically think about not only my journey, but myself as well. I eagerly await the day that I start my car, pull out of my driveway, and begin to drive down I-5, passing familiar landmarks until I hit a point where I am a tourist, foreign to the land around me. I want to lose myself physically so that I can better attune to my true self, where I can reflect on all of the time, research and effort I put into this trip and how I can make my goals reality. Further, I will be able to reflect on my life in a much larger sense. Where am I going? Who am I? By removing yourself from your comfort zone(s), you can truly probe these questions in an objective sense, and figure out what you want most not only out of your travels but out of your life.