Since I was a child, I’ve been entranced by two things: books and faraway places.
Though I didn’t leave the country until I was 15, I explored as much as possible without going anywhere. I read stacks of books. I took my red wagon to the library. I called an empty closet my ‘travel room’, where I pasted up a world map and stacked shelves with my parent’s old National Geographics.
I’ve always been a bookworm, delving into worlds I’d never know — from Tolkien’s Middle Earth to the American prairies of late 19th century. But as I grew older, I became increasingly interested in the world outside my Midwestern bubble.
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, one of the sites I most wanted to see as a child
Once I became a teenager, I traveled as much as time and money would allow. I backpacked the Andes and lived with a Spanish family in Andalusia. I hopped on and off trains throughout Europe.
I couldn’t get enough. Travel set me on fire — I was as desperate for it as I was for books when I was a kid.
Over the years, I’ve noticed I’m not the only reader-cum-traveler. I’ve met many travelers who also happen to be readers. Which makes sense. After all, being immersed in a book isn’t that different from being immersed in a foreign country; they both offer portals to new worlds. Both require imagination and empathy.
I don’t really travel for the sites or scenery (though they can be wonderful, of course). I travel to understand how other people live; to speak foreign languages and try new foods. To learn about a new way of life.
When you’re in a faraway place, even the mundane can captivate you: French street signs, newspapers written in Cyrillic, Italian voices on the radio. I’m endlessly fascinated by this — how when you’re in a foreign place, the quotidian becomes novel. In a way, it’s like being a child again.
Are you a reader and a traveler, too?
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this speaks to me so strongly. i have definitely found that my most well-read friends are also the ones with the strongest urge to wander and see as much as they can. and i was definitely the child who would get in trouble for staying up too late reading on school nights :)
Me too! I was always staying up late reading and then getting in trouble because I was exhausted for school, ha
This is such an interesting idea, I also love both travelling and reading but never made the connection between the two. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it, Alex! :)
What a nostalgic post :) I don’t think I was quite as travel-hungry as you as a kid (the “travel room,” so cute!) but this is definitely relatable. I think Harry Potter had me wanting to go to the UK above anywhere else until I was probably in high school. (Btw, thank you for putting a non-listicle travel article in my Feedly today! They seem sort of hard to come by lately.)
Glad you enjoyed! I miss old-school non-listicle blog posts too. And yes, I think Harry Potter definitely sparked my interest in the UK as well! :)
This is certainly the case for me. Thanks to my dad who instilled the idea of being knowledgeable is fun I grew up reading a lot of books, magazines, and encyclopedias. Looking back, I remember how early I learned about Potala Palace in Tibet, the capital of Mauritania, and the ancient city of Persepolis. My dad and I used to have a tradition where we would watch the world news on TV every night at 9pm, and that’s how I learned eveb more about the world. My mom, on the other hand, said she was rather displeased when I read film magazines than NatGeo. Today people I know who travel for understanding other cultures are usually those who grew up reading a lot as well.
Wow, it sounds like you got an incredible education as a child. My dad was also super interested in history which is where I got my love for it.
That makes so much sense! I’ve always loved getting lost in a good book and I love traveling to and exploring new places now.
Glad it resonated with you :)