The School of Life｜旅行的意义是什么？

The Point of Travel

What's the point of travel? It's to help make us into better people. It's a sort of therapy. Without anything mystical being meant by this, all of us are, in one way or another, on what could be termed "an inner journey." That is, we're trying to develop in particular ways. In a nutshell, the point of travel is to go to places that can help us in our inner evolution. The outer journey should assist us with the inner one.

Every location in the world contains qualities that can support some kind of beneficial change inside a person. Take these 200 million year old stones in America's Utah Desert. It's a place, but looked at psychologically. It's also an inner destination, a place with perspective, free of preoccupation with the petty and the small-minded. Somewhere imbued with calm and resilience.

Religions used to take travel much more seriously than we do now. For them, it was a therapeutic activity. In the Middle Ages, when there was something wrong with you, you were meant to head out for a pilgrimage to commune with relics of a saint or a member of the holy family.

We no longer believe in the divine power of journeys but certain parts of the world still have a power to change and mend the wounded parts of us. In an ideal world, travel agencies would be manned by a new kind of psychotherapist. They'd take care not just of the flights and the hotels, they'd start by finding out what was wrong with us and how we might want to change.

The anxious might be sent to see the majestic, immemorial waves crashing into the cliffs on the west coast of Ireland. People a bit too concerned with being admired and famous might be sent to contemplate the ruins of Detroit. Someone out of touch with their body might be recommended a trip to Porto Seguro in Bahia in Brazil.

Nowadays, too often, we head off without fully knowing what's wrong with us or precisely understanding how our chosen destinations meant to help us. We should become more conscious travellers on a well articulated search for qualities that places possess, like calm or perspective, sensuality or rigor.

We should follow old-fashioned pilgrims in striving to evolve our characters according to the suggestions offered up by the places we've been to. We need to relearn how to be ambitious about travel, seeing it as a way of helping us to grow into better versions of ourselves.

词汇表
mystical [ˈmɪstɪkl] 神秘的，奥妙的
term [tɜː(r)m] 把…称为，把…叫做
in a nutshell [ˈnʌtʃel] 简言之，概括地说
Utah Desert [ˈjuːtɑː ˈdezət] 犹他沙漠（美国西部沙漠地区）
perspective [pə(r)ˈspektɪv] 视角，观点，洞察力
preoccupation [priːˌɒkjuˈpeɪʃn] 全神贯注，关注的事物
petty [ˈpeti] 琐碎的，次要的，小心眼的
small-minded [ˌsmɔːl ˈmaɪndɪd] 心胸狭隘的，目光短浅的
be imbued with [ɪmˈbjuːd] 充满，洋溢着
therapeutic [ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk] 治疗的，有疗效的
pilgrimage [ˈpɪlɡrɪmɪdʒ] 朝圣之旅，参拜之行
commune with [kəˈmjuːn] 与…交流，与…沟通，与…心灵相通
relic [ˈrelɪk] 遗物，遗迹
saint [seɪnt] 圣人，圣徒，道德崇高的人
holy family [ˈhəʊli] 圣家族（指耶稣、马利亚和约瑟的家庭）
divine [dɪ'vaɪn] 神圣的，非凡的，绝妙的
mend [mend] 修补，修复，治愈
be manned by [mænd] 配备，由…担任工作人员
psychotherapist [ˌsaɪkəʊˈθerəpɪst] 心理治疗师，精神治疗医师
majestic [məˈdʒestɪk] 雄伟的，壮丽的；威严的
immemorial [ˌɪməˈmɔːriəl] 古老的，远古的，无法追忆的
west coast of Ireland [west kəʊst ɒv ˈaɪələnd] 爱尔兰西海岸
contemplate [ˈkɒntəmpleɪt] 沉思，冥想；仔细考虑，盘算
ruins of Detroit [dɪˈtrɔɪt] 底特律废墟（美国汽车城底特律衰败后的遗迹）
Porto Seguro in Bahia in Brazil [ˈpɔːtəʊ ˈseɡjʊərəʊ][bəˈhiːə][ˈbrəzɪl] 巴西-巴伊亚州-塞古鲁港（葡萄牙人发现巴西的地点）
head off [hed ɒf] 出发，启程，动身
articulated [ɑː(r)ˈtɪkjuleɪtɪd] 清晰的，有条理的，明确的
sensuality [ˌsenʃuˈæləti] 感性，感官享受
rigor [ˈrɪɡə(r)] 严谨，严密；严格，苛刻
pilgrim [ˈpɪlɡrɪm] 朝圣者，香客

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