Travel
Yara Amin
The things you only notice when you stop trying to notice things.
The best moments in any trip are almost always the ones you did not plan.
The problem with itineraries
The itinerary is a defence mechanism. It protects you from the discomfort of not knowing what you are supposed to be doing. It gives the trip a shape before the trip has had a chance to find its own. This is useful up to a point. Beyond that point, it becomes the thing standing between you and the trip you might actually have had.
What happens when you put the list down
The most interesting things that have ever happened to me while travelling happened in the spaces between the things I had planned. The conversation that started because I took a wrong turn. The market I stumbled into because it was too hot to keep walking. The view from a rooftop bar I only found because the restaurant I had booked was closed. None of these were on any list. All of them are what I remember.
The art of useful aimlessness
There is a skill to wandering with intention. It is not the same as having no plan. It is more like holding the plan loosely. Knowing roughly where you want to end up but being genuinely open to not getting there in any particular way. This requires being comfortable with not knowing what comes next, which is harder than it sounds if you are the kind of person who booked the trip six months in advance.
What boredom does for a traveller
Boredom is underrated as a travel tool. Not the boredom of having nothing to do but the boredom of having done the things and now not knowing what is next. This is the productive kind. It forces you to look at what is actually in front of you rather than what you came to see. Some of the best meals I have eaten while travelling happened because I was bored of looking for somewhere good and just walked into wherever was nearest.
The trip inside the trip
Every trip has two versions. The one you planned and the one that actually happened. The planned version is the one you tell people about. The one that actually happened is the one you think about years later. The gap between the two is where travel does its best work. The only way to close that gap is to stop trying to control which trip you are having and let the place decide for a while.
The best moments in any trip are almost always the ones you did not plan.
The things that stay
The things you remember from a trip are almost never the things you went for. The monument was fine. The restaurant was good. But what you actually remember is the light on a particular street at a particular time of day. The sound of a market winding down in the late afternoon. A conversation you did not expect to have. These things only happen when you are not looking for them.
Why the best travel is mostly just paying attention
Travel is not really about where you go. It is about how well you pay attention when you are there. The same city will give two different travellers two entirely different experiences depending on how present each of them managed to be. The itinerary is a distraction from the actual work of travel, which is noticing. Put the list down. Look at what is in front of you. That is where the trip actually is.
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About the author
Yara Amin
Writes about culture, ideas, and the questions that take years to properly answer. Started the publication because she could not find a single place that wanted to publish everything she was interested in. Based in Athens, which she chose partly for the light and partly for the coffee.
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