Me and Travel Literature

Perhaps our generation never thought that in this era when high-speed and convenient means of transportation such as airplanes, high-speed trains, cars and cruise ships are prevalent and developed, people's travel will suddenly become so hesitant and hesitant. The COVID-19 epidemic has clouded the world for a long time. Traveling has gradually become a luxury for me who likes to walk. However, during this period of hesitation, I gradually became fond of travel literature. It may be because when people can't get the desired results, they often try to get some spiritual compensation in another way, or draw cakes to satisfy their hunger, or find plums to quench their thirst. It's okay!

Gerald Bourenane talked about his travel literature: My purpose is only to entertain some hikers who stay indoors. They may like to kill time on rainy nights by reading stories about people living in remote mountain villages and the calm climate in the southern Mediterranean. His purpose just meets my need to live in a popular era. Maybe I am such a vagrant who likes to read books to kill time on rainy nights. Perhaps it is because of the boredom of daily life, or because of inner loneliness, or perhaps it is the confusion on the road of life. Waiting for the end of the epidemic is like waiting for Godot, and then trying to vent. Reading travel literature has suddenly become one of the simplest and most practical ways for me to fight against confusion and boredom.

Some people say that the post-90s generation are self-confident, fragile, sensitive and selfish, lonely, eager to get more friends, have their own unique thinking ability and working principles, like to bring forth new ideas and publicize their own personality, and lack a sense of team loyalty. In fact, I can't define myself very well. As a post-90s generation, I often ask myself what kind of person I am.

Looking back on your past, it may be different from the general post-90 s. When it comes to the hard life of childhood, most people don't believe it. Born in a poor rural family, I knew the hardships of life and the difficulty of food and clothing from an early age. Fields, rivers and hills are places for work and entertainment besides reading. I have never set foot in the county, but after the college entrance examination, I chose to go far away, from Guangdong to the north, and traveled thousands of miles to go to college. After graduation, I worked in an IT company from grassroots to middle management, and moved to several business lines for many years. People always say that I am cheerful and generous, good at talking, ready to share, ready to help others and give people positive energy. However, even familiar partners always have some loneliness, and even in a busy venue, they always look forward to silence. I always walk, run and ride a bike alone in my spare time to discover and appreciate the scenery on the road. Just like the WeChat circle of friends many years ago: there is always a lonely patient who is nostalgic for the scenery flowing alternately on the road.

Perhaps, as Paul Solo said, "It is hard to see clearly and think clearly when a person is accompanied. When you are alone, you need a clear mind to capture the light of your thoughts, no matter how ordinary they are, but in private, they make you feel unique and deserve special attention. "

There is always a picture of time: a summer breeze, a little boy sitting on the threshold under the gray tile eaves, looking at the castle peak at the foot of the horizon, thinking about the world on the other side of the castle peak in his mind. My son often does this, and he usually gives his family silly names. It's just that what I never imagined at that time was the childhood of some people, but what haunted me was the picture of my little body running to other places alone.

For me when I was a child, the world outside Castle Peak was all the scenic spots in the world, the classic scenic spots in primary school textbooks, such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, Huangshan Mountain, Huashan Mountain, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, Baotu Spring, the Yellow Crane Tower, and the Stork Tower ... Perhaps the significance of these other places is just to spend my leisure time in classes and planting land. Anyway, at that time, I didn't know what a foreign land was, what was parting, what was loneliness and sadness, let alone the harvest of my soul and the feeling of my soul.

For Paul Solu, this may be five epiphanies elsewhere. He mentioned that occasional accidents in other places fundamentally changed the nature of travel and made people miss it. Paul Solo is a famous travel literature writer and novelist in contemporary America. His works are famous for their keen insight and sharp brushwork. For more than 50 years, he has traveled all over the world, and his footprints are everywhere except Antarctica. His most common mode of transportation is the train. He traveled around China by train in 1980s.

For Haruki Murakami, other places may be reassuring. He mentioned that even if he has been to many places, he will be surprised every time he goes: "Hey, there is such a thing." He also mentioned that don't think about work, clear your mind and enjoy the trip. Haruki Murakami is not a professional traveler. As a novelist, he often mentions the beauty of other places to readers. Traveling is a good thing. We can appreciate his wisdom and humor from such works as If there is a Time Machine and Drums in the Distance.

In other places, for Yang Xiao, this may be a reflection on the meaning of life. He traced back to the westward migration of the Hunan-Guizhou-Yunnan tour group 80 years ago, searched for the National Southwest Associated University on roads, rivers and post roads, and walked through the historical time to reshape his thoughts and actions.

Elsewhere, for Liu Zichao, it may be a humanistic insight. He is keen and sensitive to observe a foreign land, with a strong sense of travelers. Whether in Southeast Asia where the monsoon blows or in lost Central Asia, he can always continue the long tradition of the writer's travel notes, and let us truly realize that "we are all passers-by, but we also own this world."

For Xuanzang elsewhere, it may be the pursuit of the true meaning of life; For Kyle Poirot, it may be a warm yearning and pursuit; For Xu Xiake, it may be an unknown exploration and development. For Yu, this may be a cultural journey ... it may be said that we always yearn for other places. Poetry and distance have always been our dreams, so why explore the meaning of other places?

Because of the significance of different places, lonely patients have a way to vent, so some patients set foot on the road of different places, and some patients marched in the Mo Bao left by former patients, because it is understandable to travel without leaving home. And during this time, I may belong to this patient who stays at home.

Tourism literature, as a literature reflecting tourism life, expresses the thoughts, emotions and aesthetic interests of tourists and tourism workers through the description of natural landscapes such as mountains and rivers, cultural relics and historical sites, and local customs. Whether it's China's ancient tourism literature in pre-Qin, Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, or non-tourism works with the intention of "anti-tourism", its characteristics are still inseparable from lyricism, aesthetics, knowledge and fragmentation reflecting social life.

I always expect every work (not necessarily a complete travel literature) to wander in time and let my thoughts fly. The geography, hydrology, geology and plants in Xu Xiake's Travels, as well as the scenic resources of great rivers and mountains in China; The border town scenery, trivial and ordinary personnel gains and losses, joys and sorrows in Shen Congwen's notes on Xiangxi; Yu's "Cultural Journey" and "Traveler Without Borders" deeply interpret the epic of local civilization; Paul Solu's "Old Patagonia Express", on the land of China, the journey of the train across Europe and Asia, and other customs and landscapes that the train passed through; Liu Zichao's Arriving Before Midnight, Along the Monsoon, The Lost Satellite, A Journey to Europe and Asia, and other foreign cultural struggles and conflicts; Tigerson Yang's "Walking Again". Looking for The National SouthWest Associated University on the Road, River and Post Road: Walking between two histories and acquaintances. ...

Some people say that travel is the reading of the mind, and reading is the travel of the mind. Perhaps in this epidemic, reading a travel literature can open your mind and see the light. Let's read a book. Maybe after reading it, we will know that we are not alone.