As a writer of travel memoirs I recognise that we look at things with varying levels of percipience. We interpret what we see with varying levels of reflectiveness. From my own experience of writing about travel, I have compiled the following questions or travel: no doubt others could be added.
- Do we travel to find ourselves or to lose ourselves? Which of our issues can we leave at home, and which cling to us?
- How much do the people we are with affect what we think about a place?
- How differently do places appear when we visit them for business or for leisure?
- The more we travel, is there diminishing wonderment, but deeper appreciation?
- Do we always appraise a new place by comparing it to other places we know? Does that matter?
- How do you feel when ‘This is our culture’ looks to you like oppression or mismanagement?
- Is vulnerability, the absence of usual frameworks of support, a key element of the spice of travel?
- That feeling of self-reliance when travelling: how much of it is a delusion?
- Is homecoming an integral part of the travel experience?
- The mind filters memories of travelling. Are there patterns to what is forgotten and what is magnified?
- If your local area were a new travel destination for someone, what might they notice about it?
- Landscapes stay much the same, but townscapes change. If there is a special place you return to periodically, how do you feel when the hotel is different, or when your favourite shops or restaurants are no longer there?