Why we travel

Julia ♦ July 24, 2021 ♦ 4 Comments

The forecast was off, but only the camera noticed. London, August 2005

“Travel tends to make us hyper-aware of details…when we are away from the distractions of our lives, we come awake to the small moments. That’s why we travel, and why we take pictures. The trick is to bring that hyper-awareness home with you, and keep it alive.”  
— George Lange

Until I read this quote from Lange, I had never thought about it, but I think he’s right.  When I’m traveling in a place that is unfamiliar, I tend to see far more than I do during everyday life.  It’s a bit like when you put that photo or note on your refrigerator door, and after awhile you tend to stop seeing it, simply because your eyes grow too accustomed to the sameness.

For me, using my camera daily (or nearly so) is one way to bring that hyper-awareness home.  The lens can frame a scene and shut out competing distractions.  Especially with the long telephotos that are increasingly common even in inexpensive cameras, we can “zoom in” and see things we might otherwise miss.

You don’t have to have a camera, of course.  To see your world in a new way, try being hyper-aware of the details.  Remember the game “I Spy?”  See what you can spy in your world, and report back to us.  Did you notice anything you had forgotten about, or maybe never knew was there?

One year ago today:

A full expression

This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.