Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

The Uses of Travel for A Writer

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The Uses of Travel


As I grow older, I come to terms with the temperament that, for good or ill, is mine. I thrive on variety. If had a whole week, 5 days of staying in and writing all day while the children were at school, I would feel restless. Two weeks of that, and I would feel very sorry for myself indeed. I am distractable. I can lose focus on my tasks. I am also a perfectionist, and can concentrate on getting a piece of writing just right for so long that I get bored with it.

And so, when I can afford it, and sometimes when I can’t, I travel. The long periods of walking around, or driving or flying to my destination gives me fallow, empty time to think. To remember what I want to do with what I have left of my life. To refocus. To remake my schedules which always get out of whack. To remember my goals.  To refocus on them.

Travel is also a form of education. I grab books about the places I am going to. I read their history. I find out about their artists and architects. I see their work. If I can, I read or skim-read some of their writers. It refills me with zest and enthusiasm for living. I come back with a head full of ideas and new knowledge.

It’s amazing how many writers and artists were inveterate travellers. Why? To keep fresh, to shake off the blues to be expected when one lives a sedentary life, to see, to live using other senses, to become as Monet was described, “Only an eye.” I would love to have a life like Rilke’s, wandering around Europe’s capitals, accruing experience which burst forth in the splendid, triumphant Duino Elegies.

So, while I love the experience of travel–the break from the monotony of one’s house and its chores, and one’s quotidian routine; the experience of wandering on fabled streets, breathing in their sights and sounds, and seeing fabulous art, buildings and churches, I also travel because I cannot really contemplate month and after month in the same house, beloved though it is.


Pascal said that all man’s miseries stemmed from a single cause: His inability to sit quietly in a room.

How did he know? Because he was unable to?

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Comments

  1. Traveling is always a blast… I loved it when I had my brief stint in the UK, France, Italy and Ireland. But, if you'd like to share that experience with a loved one, here's a great gift idea for the lovely traveler in your life, consider a promotion we're offering at Metroflats.com! Below is a link for a gift card for people who want to offer their loved ones some cash for a vacation rental. Check it out:

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    -J