There’s a guy on the BMWMOA site that’s sort of complaining about the Long Way Round, or Down, book. His issue seems to be that Ewan and Charley write more about their feelings, than giving descriptions of the places they are visiting.
Just to put a touch of balance in place, it’s a month since I left home. I’ve missed Karen every day. The more spectacular the location, or event, the more I want to share it with her.
Being on the road gives you a heightened awareness of your thoughts, as they are often all you have in your helmet. There’s time to contemplate, to absorb, to try to comprehend.
Move away from the normal conformities of daily life, the business conversations, the platitudes exchanged, that pass for dialogue and then you’ll find every word you use, has to be considered and chosen. Such activity is alien to the contrived formulae that have been instilled in us.
So, it’s only natural that emotions take on a far more prominent role and I can understand why a book would reflect this. It’s a medium that isn’t constrained by bandwidth, or advertising schedules and time slots.
If you are looking for vicarious jollies from an armchair, then the price you pay is that you have the views of those who are out doing these things. If that isn’t satisfaction for you, the answer is obvious…go do it yourself, to some level that brings you to a point of revelation, that a journey doesn’t need to cover mile after mile, after mile, it can be as challenging as finding the new and previously unobserved in your daily commute.
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