Independent travel is a myth
There’s no such thing as independent travel.
Travel depends on fuel supplies, seatmates, ticket collectors, farmers, traders, innkeepers, and governments.
It depends on the weather, the landscape, employers, clients, the generosity of others, what your parents did or did not do, the person you’re negotiating with, the capital-T Travel Industry, the authorities (and more generally, weapons), and storytellers.
It depends on your bedmate, pharmacists and doctors, computers and communication networks, and a worldwide network of grandmas.
Though the road can feel lonely, solitude is for the delusional.
Photo by kygp via Flickr.
December 16th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Wow, nice affirming message. Also, it totally meshes with the overall tone of the website and the author.
December 16th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Someone has to play devil’s advocate, right? Cheers.
December 18th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Is independent travel really a myth? Well it hangs on what you mean by these words. According to Merrian Webster online dictionary, the word independent can have several connotations.
The meaning implied in the article above is “not requiring or relying on something else”. Of course, travelling does depend on other people, so this type of “independent travel” is a myth.
If, instead, you intend “not looking to others for one’s opinions or for guidance in conduct”, then independent travelling DOES exist. And it is alive and well! 😉
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/independent