「你又是忽然拋下一句『離開一會兒』就一個人去一個月吧。」
其實沒有一次「離開一會兒」是忽然的。只是盤算已久但不對外公佈罷了。多年前意識到城市漫遊這種遊戲的趣味後，便決定總要一個人到別處走走。
想走些甚麼地方，心中大概有個譜。但算盤是否能打得響，也不是「想」就足夠的。因此次序方面其實有點奇怪。越感到應多作準備的，反而墮後了。
很多人一聽到「一個人」便會感到驚訝。說甚麼危險呀，怕悶呀，卻不知寂寞才是最誘人的。對個人來說，與生活相較，再長的旅程也不過轉瞬即逝。因此大部份日常生活不可缺少的事都可以暫時拋諸腦後。只能抓緊時間，將所有注意力放在肉眼和心眼之上，認識陌生的地和人。
那危險又是甚麼回事？走過一趟，遊，與漫遊還是有一段距離。事先計劃，不過為求放心。到了真正實行，自己也不肯乖乖按劇本做事。那不如邊走邊學，以不負「隨機」之名。
這不是在自找麻煩嗎？是的。一向都喜歡走多一點路，看多一點。但察覺到「不清楚眼前的路」的吸引力不過是近一兩年的事。大抵是受身邊經常胡鬧的友人影響。不過說真的，安全地站在玻璃罩後觀看，又怎及得上用雙手觸摸的感覺來得真實？對自己有一點信心的話，何不做著看看？
手上已有的，是去程和回程的交通。剩下來的，是完全的見步行步。
說不害怕是在騙人。
但不做就總不會知道能否做到，因此再說甚麼都是多餘。
去吧。
2010-07-03
On this lonely planet
Besides those who like memorizing maps (not a strange hobby indeed), it is almost impossible for us to find out where to go in unfamiliar places. Therefore everyone bring a guidebook when traveling. Lonely Planet (LP) and Eye-wittness (DK) are the most famous.
Though they are important reference on local lives, neither of them are good guidebooks. Or I should say, there is nothing called a good traveler's guide.
Those who are conscious enough may have already noticed that tourism is a form of soft colonism. Though LP has its set of idealistic claims for boosting economic growth, respecting local culture and promoting democratic ideology to developing countries, it also encourages westerners to bring their night life like pub and disco to foreign countries. A large number of tourists then reshape the local economy and the local people slowly change to the way foreign guests expect themselves to be. (Those who do not understand what this paragraph is talking about should go to the shopping centres at TST to have a look.)
Some may think that it is not related to them. Maybe yes. But it is not the only reason for asserting there is no good guide at all. In the editors' point of view, what they have to introduce are things that they expect tourists would find interesting, which do not mean those places would really interest you. So how can I find interesting sites besides relying on books? Two answers provided as follows. Point number one, ask someone who had been there. Point number two, not really an answer, which is to rethink whether it is necessary to have "sites" visited in a journey. Afterall, the city itself is the finest site to dig on. So please consider spending sometime on meaningless wandering.
On the other hand, a guide is not necessarily a physical guide but also a mental one. Some covers the technical side while others serve emotional purpose. You know much more on how to appreciate what you see after reading the technical guides; while other books may give no practical information, but provide an exotic atmosphere to bring yourself the mood of traveling, which can be pure observational, joyful, or introspective. Several examples are listed as follows:
玄奘, 大唐西域記
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 看不見的城市
梁思成, 中國建築史
原廣司、槙文彥、黑川紀章, 都市地球學
Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book 黑色之書
So how about travel journals? Personally I never read these things, including photo albums similar to the reason of not reading prefaces not written by the author. It is not because they are in low quality, but simply because I do not want to be have some second handed first impression on what I am going to meet.
After all, what I would like to say is that there are something equally important to be read. They are read not for reliance, but to help oneself to become his own guide.
Some online practical guides
Wikitravel - The Free Worldwide Travel Guide
Hitchwiki - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Hitchhiking
Though they are important reference on local lives, neither of them are good guidebooks. Or I should say, there is nothing called a good traveler's guide.
Those who are conscious enough may have already noticed that tourism is a form of soft colonism. Though LP has its set of idealistic claims for boosting economic growth, respecting local culture and promoting democratic ideology to developing countries, it also encourages westerners to bring their night life like pub and disco to foreign countries. A large number of tourists then reshape the local economy and the local people slowly change to the way foreign guests expect themselves to be. (Those who do not understand what this paragraph is talking about should go to the shopping centres at TST to have a look.)
Some may think that it is not related to them. Maybe yes. But it is not the only reason for asserting there is no good guide at all. In the editors' point of view, what they have to introduce are things that they expect tourists would find interesting, which do not mean those places would really interest you. So how can I find interesting sites besides relying on books? Two answers provided as follows. Point number one, ask someone who had been there. Point number two, not really an answer, which is to rethink whether it is necessary to have "sites" visited in a journey. Afterall, the city itself is the finest site to dig on. So please consider spending sometime on meaningless wandering.
On the other hand, a guide is not necessarily a physical guide but also a mental one. Some covers the technical side while others serve emotional purpose. You know much more on how to appreciate what you see after reading the technical guides; while other books may give no practical information, but provide an exotic atmosphere to bring yourself the mood of traveling, which can be pure observational, joyful, or introspective. Several examples are listed as follows:
玄奘, 大唐西域記
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 看不見的城市
梁思成, 中國建築史
原廣司、槙文彥、黑川紀章, 都市地球學
Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book 黑色之書
So how about travel journals? Personally I never read these things, including photo albums similar to the reason of not reading prefaces not written by the author. It is not because they are in low quality, but simply because I do not want to be have some second handed first impression on what I am going to meet.
After all, what I would like to say is that there are something equally important to be read. They are read not for reliance, but to help oneself to become his own guide.
Some online practical guides
Wikitravel - The Free Worldwide Travel Guide
Hitchwiki - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Hitchhiking
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)