Why We Run

There are some universally acknowledged truths about travel.  All backpacks inherited from parents will fall apart the first time you go to repack them, that creepy guy from your first hostel is always going to have the same schedule planned as you do and all in-flight meals will be about as palatable as laminate floorboards (yes, Qantas, you get to claim exception from this rule). One truth that is perhaps more meaningful, if not a little spiritual, is that all, all travelers -no matter what they claim- are running away from something. Really.

This isn't some self justifying, generic commentary provided by jealous relatives. It's fact. It can be as simple as running away from boredom and monotony or as fear driven as running from an ex lover or a horrendously painful breakup. We run from childhood, adulthood, and the urge to settle down. We run from graduations, family homes, real careers and choices that actually require us to risk failure for once. Whether we acknowledge it or not, there's always a reason, there's always a motivation, there's always something to fear in slowing down. Staying still.

But regardless of what we think, our true motivations do not invalidate our choice to travel. To run. Our minds know exactly what it is we're not ready to face. To travel is to build up a resistance, an immunity. Fleeing takes us out of the path of one challenge and throws us directly in the path of other, greater ones. By facing and defeating these challenges we're building up the strength and knowledge we need to go back and face that first demon we left behind. That whole "life experience" thing old folks talk about isn't as pointless as they make it sound, you know.

So my advice to all of you is to run. Run as fast and as far as you can. Run to discover as much as to escape and don't stop until you've reached some magical and enlightening place where everything makes sense again. I hear it's wonderful there.

  

Songs to run away with:

Architecture in Helsinki - Desert Island

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

Metronomy - The Look

The Head and The Heart - Lost in My Mind

Gotye - Heart's a Mess

The Maccabees - Mary

It's beginning to look a lot like winter

I'm told by locals on a near daily basis that this has been an incredibly mild winter. Terms like "sunbathing weather" are thrown around with the casual nonchalance that only true hardweather boys possess. But what these crazy northerners are forgetting is that the rest of us (sane) folks are not used to this kind of climate. Whilst I was sadly deprived of the White Christmas I've dreamt of since childhood, I can no longer deny that winter is well and truly here. Snow has fallen, melted and fallen again, matches are regularly postponed for weather, the sun doesn't rise til it's almost time for it to set again and the walk down the hill to the bus stop becomes more and more treacherous every day. Black ice, as it turns out, is very likely to be the cause of my early demise. 

A wariness of spending too much money before I've received some decent sized paycheques means there will be no fancy skiing holidays for me. A trip to Edinburgh was the highlight of the new year so far but with southern England buried in snow and sitting at a comfortable negative seven degrees; it looks like I won't be doing much tourism for a while. So the question becomes: what is the humble traveller to do when leaving the house comes with oversized coats, frostbite and horizontal sleet flying in your face?

Winter can still be a grand old time of year for those of us who are sensibly unwilling to risk pneumonia. The humble thrills enjoyed back home can still bring comfort abroad. Restaurants, movies, bars and cafes are just as enjoyable. Museums, galleries and shops are still open and whilst good television seems to have gone on hiatus lately, a night in watching one of the many award ceremonies that kick off during February is just as fun here as back home. One of the difficulties modern travellers face is getting over the belief that you have to be doing something every day in order to justify your trip. Sometimes simply enjoying yourself is more than enough.