Traveling alone frees you from the expectations of others
“It seemed an advantage to be traveling alone. Our responses to the world are crucially molded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others. They may have particular visions of who we are and hence may subtly prevent certain sides of us from emerging… Being closely observed by a companion can also inhibit our observation of others; then, too, we may become caught up in adjusting ourselves to the companions questions and remarks, or feel the need to make ourselves seem more normal than is good for our curiosity.”
–Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel, (2002)
April 28th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I’ve heard it’s best to vacation with friends, but travel alone. Except, I wonder if when traveling with a friend, if you do undergo changes, can it make them manifest themselves more solidly, with more comitment, to have to live those changes in front of a “witness” who knows how you were/are. Does is make the changes possibly less ephemeral, if a little less drastic?
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 am
The quote is not taken exactly from the book. Only some small changes but I hate it when quotes are passed around the internet and slightly change over time. The full quote taken from the book is:
‘Our responses to the world are crucially moulded by the whom we are with, we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others. They may have a particular vision of who we are and hence subtly prevent certain sides of us from emerging: …Being closely observed by a companion can inhibit us from observing others…’