Is traveling a therapy ? What advice to aspiring travelers? Are there trips that should be made before the big, final journey?
Let's explore this and other themes with Beppe Ceccato and Andrea Forlani, of " 101 extraordinary journeys to do at least once in a lifetime " (Newton Compton)
In the preface to the book we talk about "sublimity of wandering": what is meant in particular?
Wandering is an important part of traveling. Indeed, the best way to make an unforgettable journey. To wander is to indulge in curiosity, to know how to seize the right moment to get lost and find / try new experiences.
I have always liked it, but I think I also speak on behalf of Andrea who is wandering in Tajikistan right now looking for new ideas for his reportage, "getting lost" in a place I am visiting.
If you get lost, pay more attention to what's around you, if only to find your way back, you're led to talk to people, even just to ask for information. And then you know, one word leads to another ... In this sense, wandering is a sublime, wonderful, absolute act !
It is important to read up first on the culture of the place you want to visit. What valuable tips for the aspiring traveler?
Absolutely important! A journey must be built with care . Reading is essential. Only then can you afford to wander! The only advice is to inquire, not to stop at the first pages found on Google, but going to the bottom, in short, even here, is worth the curiosity.
In the book we move from the villages and cities of Italy, to the legendary places of Peru, from the safaris in Kenya, to the paradisiacal beaches of Tanzania. Is there a particular place that you will never tire of visiting?
Only one? I would go back to all the places I visited. Also because I certainly missed something along the way ...
Can an inner journey be extraordinary like the one that involves real physical movement?
Yes. In this case you have to exercise a lot of imagination and ... patience . And then, you have to see what kind of inner journey you are about to do ... I remember that as a boy one of my favorite destinations was the train station. I sat there and watched people go by fast.
Families, businessmen, sad women, angry children ... I imagined everyone's journey, where they could have gone, for what reasons ... In my way I was traveling in fantasies ...
On the other hand, the legendary Emilio Salgari wrote all his adventure books without ever leaving Turin ... He traveled all over the world inventing stories that, even in our super digital time, still manage to capture and amaze ...
Does the journey care only for souls who have a vocation to it or does it have a "therapeutic effect" on psychophysical balance in general?
Good question! In my opinion the journey is still a 'recommended therapy'. Teach and score anyway!
Hospitality, a significant and important social form in classicism. Did you find it around Italy? And abroad?
I remember in Iran, near Shiraz, we see a tribe of Quashqai nomads, traveling with a large flock of sheep in search of pastures. We stop in their camp and talk to the tribal leader. He invites us under his tent. The women stop weaving the carpets on a ramshackle wooden frame and hurry to make tea for us.
There is only one chipped cup. Here comes the tea. He pours it to his mother, a toothless and smiling old woman, who drinks the first sip (great respect!) Then passes it to us, who we drink and, finally, he sips. There was no language that held it: we were not talking about it ourselves, they were neither English nor Italian. We understood each other with silences and gestures. We were even able to have great laughs.
He, the boss, wanted my pants full of pockets. In exchange he gave me his and a small prayer rug. The negotiation ended at sunset. For the record: I stayed with my pants and he with his, but we had fun! So that's just one of hundreds of meetings. I believe that hospitality is also directly proportional to your way of taking you to other cultures, often the opposite of yours ...
How can traveling be an opportunity for personal growth?
Because you always live new experiences (which can then be positive or negative) that nevertheless increase your culture, your story, your intelligence. In one thing I firmly believe (and I am not mistaken if I also speak on behalf of Andrea!) The journey is above all humility . Even if I go into the deep Amazon forest I know that I will surely learn something there.
We must forget where you come from and welcome what is offered to you, because, after all, you are experiencing something new and intense. Then, I repeat, he may like it or not. But this is the right arrangement. At least for us.
