The Check-in blog is now at a new address and, to mark this change, I bring the report by Luísa Ferreira (@janelasabertas), who is launching a book precisely about transformations involving travel.
According to her, “Travel guide for inside and outside” is a manifesto for journeys with more depth and critical sense, without neglecting lightness, creativity and poetry.
With several stories lived around the world and practical tips, the journalist addresses topics related to self-knowledge, responsible tourism and travel planning.
Below is an excerpt from the book, which is being launched by a crowdfunding campaign that works as a pre-sale.
How about sharing your travel story with the Check-in blog? Just write to [email protected].
What is not lacking in the travel world is the presumption that there is a superior way to travel. This discourse often divides people into “comfort zone exiters” versus “routine conformists” or “cool backpackers” versus “smooth tourists” and the like. I don’t know about you, but I find this very simplistic. After all, we are more than Manichean labels.
But it seems that this mania for hierarchy among travelers is quite old: this need for social distinction is said to be millenary, having been observed 2,000 years ago among Romans who competed over who had the most authentic experience of the Greek lifestyle.
“As a caricature of the social relationships they maintain at home, Antarctic geologists feel superior to anthropologists during their travels, who in turn feel superior to travel journalists, who feel superior to backpackers, who feel superior to tourists of mass”, says the book “Couchsurfing Cosmopolitanisms” (free translation).
For some people, discovering many different destinations in one trip is ideal; for others, it’s nicer to have a routine in each place. Some need or prefer to save every penny, and others don’t give up a certain luxury. There are those who love to follow the unpredictable flow of life, while others love to plan everything. And, contrary to what many people seem to think, choosing between a backpack or a suitcase on wheels is not what defines a trip.
Traveling is about overcoming limits, stepping out of your comfort zone and trying different things. Therefore, in many cases it is worth trying to accomplish what fear or the same routine would not lead you to do naturally. But traveling is also about respecting who you are, the moment you are living in, and what you feel is comfortable, safe, or enjoyable.
If you’re not hurting your destination, you don’t have to worry about the opinions of relatives, colleagues or social media followers about your way of traveling. What matters is what YOU want today – remembering, of course, that tomorrow it could be something totally different.
Ask yourself: when planning a trip, do you think about what you really want, or are you influenced by the idea that other people have about a nice trip?
Notice to passengers 1: On the road since 2016, Manoela Ramos has so much to tell that she published the book “Confissões de Viajante (Without Money)”
Notice to Passengers 2: Joana Silva recently wrote a book about her time in China, “The Lessons I Learned Traveling and Living in China”
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