The more I think about traveling, the more its purpose unravels in my mind. I spend a day sitting in airports and airplanes. I struggle with foreign languages, customs, and railroad schedules. I overeat. I cast my eyes on yet another castle or cathedral, home with photos and stories to make my friends jealous, even though they often have seen the same castles and cathedrals. So I dont know if travel has a purpose or not, but here are a few observations from my recent tour through parts of eastern Europe.
Travel makes you feel dumber. I had this revelation strolling around Zwinger Palace in Dresden. Built in the Eighteenth Century by the king of Saxony, the palace was grand and beautiful with labs where astronomers built clocks. Saxony was just one of many kingdoms that dotted the landscape of eastern Europe. I use to consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about history, but I knew next to nothing about these places and their histories.
The world is more fragile than we realize. I had this revelation looking at the Dresden cathedral. bricks were used during its restoration so that visitors could tell the difference between the
original and the rebuilt parts. The cathedral was almost all white. This solid stone edifice anchored the everyday world for generation after generation and then, in one terrible night, it and all of the other buildings in the city were gone.
I thought of the worlds fragility again when I saw a plague column in a little town outside of Prague. After a plague subsided, many towns and cities in Europe built plague columns to memorialize their dead. Of course, I thought of our own plague and how quickly it upended every corner of our planet. Maybe we need a COVID column.
Travel is more uncertain than it used to be. I didnt use to be nervous about flying, but now I am. I dont worry about plane crashes. I worry about late or canceled flights. I worry about missed connections. I worry about missing the fine print on my ticket that says I can only carry what I have in my pockets as luggage. I worry about the plane turning back because the passenger sitting next to me has a psychotic episode. (This almost happened on my return flight from Istanbul. Fortunately, the jackass was restrained
COVID adds an extra layer of uncertainty to travel. Each country has its own rules about who can enter. The rules are and written in legalistic prose by someone with a marginal grasp of English.
Two weeks of quarantine is required for all visitors. There are no exemptions. People who have been immunized by an approved vaccine may be exempt. (See footnote A.71.6 for the chemical formulas of approved vaccines.)
An entry application must be filled at most 72 hours before arrival. If approved, the traveler will be sent a QR code needed to board the plane. If not approved, the traveler may use his or her plane ticket as toilet paper.
Anyone entering the US must take an approved COVID test at most 72 hours before departure. (See footnote B.93.a2 for the chemical formulas of approved tests.) US citizens who test positive for COVID should seek new lives in their host country.
Travel makes you see things the way babies do. I had this revelation crossing Bavaria by train. A small boy in the seat behind me was peppering his mother
with questions and observations about what he saw out the window. I couldnt understand what he was saying, but I gathered from the mothers laughter that it was pretty funny. I was reminded of my own granddaughters when they were babies. The world was new to them. Everyday objects—a clump of cat hair, an electrical outlet, a loose carpet astonishing. Like the boy behind me, I too was fascinated by the weeds growing alongside the tracks, the backsides of factories, and the graffitied boxcars. These things would be invisible to me at home.
Travel by train isnt as romantic as we imagine. We (my friend Cay and I) traveled by train. Trains are super cheap in eastern Europe.
