The Art Of Travel

Oh what I would give for a conversation with Alain de Botton! I, here on DUNNWONG, officially declare my crush on his brain.

One of my favourite de Botton books called "The Art of Travel" deals with, well, the art of travel. "Few things are as exciting as the idea of travelling somewhere else. But the reality of travel seldom matches our daydreams. The tragi-comic disappointments are well-known: the disorientation, the mid-afternoon despair, the lethargy before ancient ruins." It explores travel-for-pleasure and the disparities that arise. Many of the situations he writes about are quite frankly, very vulnerable and thus, telling. Don't many individuals travel to find a new perspective or to meet interesting people? The travel industry doesn't meet that need; not by sending people to look at the Eiffel Tower by themselves. One thing that is absent from modern travel is human contact - though few travelers would deign to admit it. Not wholly dark,the book takes turns both humourous and ironic.

I highly recommend all of his writings which take a philosophical look at a range of topics such as travel, love, work and status without any trace of stilted academic prose or posturing. At the very core of the literature is our human interactions and the intersection between lucid consciousness and popular culture. Digging into any aspect of life can be difficult. But as Socrates' famously polarizing statement suggests: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

-WONG