Journal 10: The Ultimate List

Before every family vacation, trip, or weekend getaway every traveler is faced with the same question. This question usually consists of what am I going to bring with me on this trip? or for most, what am I going to wear? My mom has always told me that I pack to much but in my opinion it is better to have more options then to run out of clean clothes, especially if there is no way to do laundry. Whenever I travel by airplane I am greeted with the weight restrictions of my luggage. 

Twain says it best by saying, “Then an inconvenience presented itself which we had not properly appreciated before, namely, that one cannot make a heavy traveling trunk stand for twenty-five pounds of baggage — because it weighs a good deal more. But that was all we could take — twenty-five pounds each” (Twain, p.4). While reading this I had to laugh because it reminded me of the struggles I usually go through when packing for an adventure. 

Luckily, my adventure to Edmond, Oklahoma would be by car and I could pack as much as I could carry. Usually I look at the weather for the week of my excursion to help me plan for what I will need to bring; however, the weather keep changing while I was trying to pack for Oklahoma. To ensure that I was covered for both cold and semi-warm (compared to Ohio) weather I decided to pack both my winter clothes and my fall clothes. 

So what does this look like you ask? Well to me its roughly a pair of pants for each day, a long shirt or sweatshirt for each day, shorts or capris to lats the week, and lastly shirts that I can wear in the summer. Looking back on this list, it is kind of overwhelming since it doesn’t even include the extra pairs of shoes that have to be brought to match outfits. In addition to clothing, I had to include in my list an toiletry items — such as, shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste — that I might need. Now I know that in this day and age there are grocery stores practically everywhere but I simply did not want to spend the money on items I had at home. Since there was no weight restriction on my bag I could essentially pack whatever I wanted and even the things I didn’t (i.e. homework). 

While my packing list, consisting of a little bit of everything, is essentially the same for the trips I take, there tends to be some variety based on where I am going and my mode of transportation. 

Holy cow, Batman! Journal 9

Throughout this semester, we have had the opportunity to read the pieces of many different travel writers. Through Mary Russell we have seen what post-war Bosnia was like, through Twain we were able to encounter a spur of the moment trip across the continental United States, and lastly through Kapuscinski we learned about a pressing desire to travel. While these are not all of the writers that our class has encountered, these are the select few that pop into my head when Friday comes and its time to reflect once again. (*disclaimer, I couldn’t pick just two, so I had to pick three)

For those who are unfamiliar with Mary Russell, she embarked on a trip to Bosnia during one of the first elections. Once arriving she reflects how, “to local people, of course, armored cars and tanks and guns are simply the furnishings of post-war Bosnia and most people are glad they’re there” (Russell, p.127). After the reflects she embarks on a journey to Sarajevo where she will “have to leave the safety of the bus” (Russell, p.135). When most people face situations like this they will run away in fear willing to miss the experiences that will come. Only a select few of writers will embark on journeys to areas that are not the safest or to areas that are still in turmoil. 

Twain’s story differs only slight from Russell. While Twain doesn’t enter a state of post-war, he does begin a journey across the west or at the time, the unknown terrain of the United States. According to Twain, his brother was about to make a “long, strange journey … new world he was going to explore” (Twain, p.1). Twain was so enraptured by the journey his brother was willing to make he jumped at the opportunity to become an assistant and “at the end of an hour or two I was ready for the journey” (Twain, p.2). Unlike Twain, many people are unwilling to join trips that are not thought out or thoroughly planned. 

Lastly, Kapuscinski takes his readers through his journey of crossing a border for the first time. Since Kapuscinski was from a post-Stalin era “the closer one got to a border, the emptier the land and the fewer people one encountered” (Kapuscinski, p.9). Not many people would be willing to leave a country based on the fear that surrounds them, the world that is unknown. He explains how he was taught “to fear the West like fire” (Kapuscinski, p.11).

With these three travel writers there are many similarities and differences. First, Russell and Kapuscinski both explain post-war states; however, it differs because Kapuscinski grew up through one and Russell willingly travels to one. All three writers are similar since they are all traveling to places where it is not entirely known what they will encounter and all pre-conceived notions will be put to the test. I believe the biggest difference between these three writers is not only their destination but their reasoning as to why they traveled. Russell was traveling for a political election, Kapuscinski was traveling because he wanted to simply cross a border, and Twain jumped at the opportunity to see a new place. 

All three of these writers have taught me to grasp every opportunity that is presented to me and to not run in fear or “become a soft first-world traveler,” as Steve’s says, if a country is not exactly like the area I am familiar with. 

Borders, Journal #8

While traveling I know I will adventure across many different borders including physical borders, political, and spiritual. I personally believe that the border I was cross the most is physical, I am unable to pick just one border that I will cross without talking about all three of these borders. 

For instance, while traveling to countries in the Caribbean I not only crossed a physical border of the ocean but I also crossed a political border since there are differing forms of government present. Russell describes, “To local people, of course, armored cars and tanks and guns are simply the furnishings of post-war Bosnia and most people are glad they’re there” (p. 124). This perfectly describes the scene of entering a third world country in the Caribbean. I remember traveling to the Dominican Republic and witnessing guards and military with guns. To me this was not normal and almost slightly frightening but to the people who lived in the Dominican Republic this was everyday life and a form of protection. Having a scene like this presented to me while traveling not only made me humble and appreciative to what I have in America, but it allowed me to understand the political platform of the government in place. I also gained an understanding of why the country was the way it was. 

Like both Kapuscinski and Twain who have crossed physical borders, I feel this is the border that will come into play the most. Twain crossed state borders while crossing the United States to go to Nevada while Kapuscinski crossed a country’s border to travel to India. I think physical borders are the easiest to cross because we cross physical borders everyday. We do this either on our way to class, driving to another state, or even driving across a county line. Without even realizing it any physical item can become a physical border to cross. 

Lastly, and perhaps the hardest border I will encounter is a spiritual border. I believe this is the hardest border I will cross because in order to do so I will have to let my mind roam free. I will need to leave all preconceived notions behind and accept the experience that is laid at my feet. For me, the crossing of a spiritual border comes after I complete my journey during the time in which I begin a reflection of how much I have grown. In the end, “what is (was) important is (was) the destination, the goal, the end, but the most mystical and transcendent act” (p. 10).