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Most profound travel experience
Posted by JamesJay • 8/21/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
I have found that occasionally traveling can bring about some rather unexpected and profound experiences. (By profound I mean the kind of experience that goes much deeper into one's emotional core than a typical vacation or business trip might ever do). This has been the case for me on only a few trips that I have ever taken, but those few have forever changed me.
I think that the most profound was probably standing in "The Long Room" at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland several years ago. There was something about being in the presence of so much history, so much human experience and writing that truly overwhelmed me.
So much so, that I had to leave the room. I went out of the building completely, found a bench under a tree, sat down and wept. I will never forget that moment or how intense it was. That to me is profound. Has anything like this ever happened to you in your travels?
User Comments
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My most profound travel experience has to be visiting Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. I still have very vivid memories of that place. They have a museum set up that display people's luggage, personal items, and even hair. Just even walking around, I saw the bits of human bone that are still in the ground after all these years. There really aren't any words to describe the emotions that this brought up in me...even now, three years later! -
There have been some rural areas in Southern Mexico that really opened my eyes about how a majority of the planet lives. It was incredible to see how some of those people struggled to presever their indigenous heritage while being bombarded with other peoples forms of government and culture. I would live to visit India and soak in its history, people, flavors and philosophy. -
I had an experience on a work trip, less than a week after 9/11. We were in New York shooting some New York times writers for a NOVA documentary and on our second night in the city, the sound guy and I decided to go out. The air was heavy and wet, yet, somehow remained cool on the skin. It was somewhere between heavy mist and light rain, but wasn't really either.
We stood in the heart of Times Square, in amongst a crowd of probably ten thousand people, all watching President Bush's address to the nation on the ABC Jumbotron. The crowd was silent and still, despite the whether. Even the din of traffic seemed inaudible.
When the address ended we hopped a cab and went as far south as we could get without press credentials. The corner of 6th Ave and Canal Street, right in the heart of Chinatown. All streets south of Canal were blocked and heavily guarded. I had never seen anything else like it.
As we walked toward SoHo to meet up with the sound guy's buddy, and have a drink together, a thick, gray residue began to accumulate on our shoes. The further we walked, the heavier it grew, like wet snow. I had the most heart-sunken moment of my life when I finally admitted to myself what that material was. Even to this day, I can remember exactly how the air smelled that night.
That moment, in that place, is forever etched into my memory. -
Arunachala -
I guess we will see what happens, I have been traveling the Middle east for the last 9 months, heading to Turkey in a couple of days from Beirut.
I have had great experiences meeting people, learning the cultures and seeing the sites.
If more people could travel it would changes peoples perception of their preconceived ideas.
I am sure many situations will take place in the next 5 years of my travels.
You can visit my blog @ clearlyenlight.net
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