Bicycles, Kayaks, and Showshoes: Reading and Writing about Travel 2018

There was one part in this piece in which I really resonated with what Pico Ayer was discussing. He says "Abroad is the place where we stay up late, follow impulse and find ourselves as wide open as when we are in live." I loved this because for me, traveling and experiencing new cultures is a form of romance. It make me re fall in love with the world and life and that is just such a "honeymoon" feeling. Additionally, I liked when Ayer said we are "able to return at moments to a younger and more open kind of self." I think at one point or another, everyone desires to return to a state of childlike innocence and wonder, which is a huge appeal of travel for me.

I understood the theme of Godspeed's essay to be that in order to get the most enriching travel experience, we must fully embrace the challenges and uncomfortableness that we face. She describes the bike by saying "its old. its ugly. And its heavy." This shows how the conditions of the bike weren't ideal, yet she ended top having a deep connection and feeling of affection for it. She goes on to emphasize the clunkiness of the bike by saying "At first, riding the Huffy was like riding a horse."

I understood the theme of Keith's story to be that you can try to prepare as much for a trip as you want, but in reality you will never be prepared to face the mental barriers and conflict that result from travel. In order to convey this, Keith placed string emphasis on the variety of equipment she brought, "Wicking socks, vapor socks... Just in case." Keith then goes on to elaborate how the things you need in order to make the most out of a trip are not material. She states, "What you need most is imagination, a willingness to step beyond the frame of the everyday, to follow the rabbit."

The theme of this story is really the climax up to a moment. This style of writing really builds up anticipation to describing one beautiful moment. Some sentences that struck me most in the essay were when he described the sand and said "As it rose the soft and sugary sand took on an appearance just like snow" this painted a very good scene in my head of how fine and bright the sand was in the moonlight. I also enjoyed when he said "i was in that instant blessed beyond all belief, beyond all understanding" this sentence really hit home because when Im traveling and see and feel things and full me up with joy I too feel blessed beyond all belief.

I believe the theme of bicycle love is really the thrill of traveling alone. In many cases people often travel with others or in groups of people but its not very often you get the simplicity of traveling alone. This story explores the pros and cons of traveling alone. I really enjoyed in this story how she really made her bicycle out as her traveling partner as if it were a person. I enjoyed in the story when her mom said "why are you doing this, cant you go with tourist groups" and she continued on her journey alone because that is the type of travel experience she wanted to have. Also at the end when a man says "your on a pilgrimage"  and she responded "im on a pilgrimage" it made the end of the story very powerful.

      For my final essay I will write about my travel to Santa Barbara. It will be a story of the struggles my friend Lydia and I encountered throughout our trip. The first struggle will be how we had to walk all day on our first day because our room was not ready right away. The next struggle will be the seasickness we both experienced on our ride to Santa Cruz island. After each of these stories I will tell how we overcame them and the good things that came out of these struggles. Lydia and I will be the main focus of the essay, however, I will also include important people we encountered throughout the week. These people include our uber driver from the airport, the couple that helped us at the airbnb, and a tour guide on the island we visited.