Like this:

Lounging in a tree on the way down the slippery winter slope of Mont Sainte-Odile

 

The Art of Travel.     

The book arrived in my hands months before my actual departure date. A slim blue volume, the title stamped in block letters over a gold-leaf pattern framed by the image of a cloud: required reading for all students planning on making the trip from our small liberal arts college in Kentucky to our school’s satellite campus in Strasbourg, France. I studied the author’s name at the bottom of the cover: Alain de Botton. A French-sounding name for a French-sounding place. Appropriate.     

I had nine months to read the book. I wouldn’t actually reach the last page until I was flying somewhere over the Atlantic, en route to France.     

My procrastination was probably for the best. De Botton’s insights into the “art” of the traveling lifestyle seemed more applicable in a crowded airplane than they did at the outset of a long and drowsy summer. Witty and eloquent, de Botton breaks down the idea of travel into five easily digestible parts, exploring the mindset, the motives, and the expectations of the would-be traveler. He advocates acute attention to detail over digital snapshots as a means of making memories,  and reminds his readers that worries and petty inconveniences may persist no matter what one’s location may be.     

It was an interesting read, that posed an even more interesting question: can there be an “art” to travel? What does the word “travel” really mean in the first place? De Botton begins his book by recounting  lengthy vacations to Barbados and other exotic locations, but ends by citing the example of Xavier de Maistre, whose carefully prepared trip around the confines of his bedroom inspired his published 1790 work, Journey around My Bedroom. Can such a journey–described in careful and avid detail–really constitute “travel?”     

And then there is the art. Art, the ultimate means of human expression, the unhindered flow of thought and emotion into an inexhaustible variety of mediums: drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, words–the list of creative endeavors goes on, and might be endless. How is art expressed in society–namely, the picturesque society of Strasbourg, France? What is its purpose? Why is it important?     

Broad questions with broad answers, but worth exploring in an abroad context, I think. I’m not an arts expert, but I do have a healthy appreciation for all things artistic. During my travels here in France, I’ll have some assistance in my exploration of the art found in Strasbourg thanks to a couple of the classes that I’ll be taking here: my Art History course will delve into the socio-economic and historical contexts of the local art and architecture here, while my Art of Walking course will combine discussions about Kant’s analysis of the beautiful with walks around the city.     

Art of Travel. Art History. Art of Walking. Art is just cropping up everywhere.     

And the city of Strasbourg is bursting with it. So I hope that you’ll come with me as I spend the next three months experiencing the art of travel firsthand, as well as traveling to find the art of Strasbourg.     

It should be an interesting trip.

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