"In a world where everything is known, those places that do not appear on maps become intriguing and provocative".
This sentence begins one of the chapters of the book "Off the Map: An Extraordinary Journey to Uncharted Places". Its author, Alastair Bonnet, is a professor of social geography at Newcastle University, one of those people you would want to talk to for hours.
This book made me feel somewhat identified. I know, he has made 12,764 journeys and I haven't... but that's not what I mean. I can relate in the sense that my tastes and the author's are very similar. Alastair lived different, unique experiences and nowadays, to achieve that is not easy.
A copy of another copy
Society directly and indirectly turns us into puppets. We often put pressure on ourselves to please others and be "socially accepted". If it's fashionable to watch Game of Thrones or Stranger Things, everyone has to watch it. If you don't have Facebook or Instagram, you're not cool. If you don't wear trousers with a rip at the knee, you're not cool. If you don't drink or smoke, you're not cool. If you don't wear designer clothes and posture, you don't look cool. If you don't go out partying (even if you don't feel like it), you're not cool. If you don't have a mobile phone, you're not cool either.
In my case, I have to say that I comply with some of the above, but I don't consider that it's because nobody likes me. In fact, over time I've realised that I go against fashions. I don't like the typical, I don't like what everyone else is doing. I think that social pressure does a lot of damage; it lowers our self-esteem, our personality is not strong and our dependence on others becomes too important. Basically, we end up being a copy of a copy of a copy of a badly copied copy.
I was never a High School Musical watcher and I never had the Wii/Play Station. I've never seen an episode of the Simpsons or Big Brother in my life. I got my mobile phone very late and WhatsApp when I was in high school. Sometimes I like to make plans to enjoy myself, alone, without anyone else. Buying clothes for the sake of buying them doesn't seduce me and I'm not obsessed with fashion. It doesn't mean that I don't like to dress up, but let's not fool ourselves, with how comfortable I feel in a tracksuit 😉
This is when you think, what a freak. I understand, it's OK. Let's just say that I'm attracted to what's different or unusual. And when I travel, that's where it happens the most. I'm really attracted to places that hardly anyone has ever been to, places that are strange, hidden...
Find yourself on the map
"It's not marked on any map: the real places are never marked.
As the author states in the book, everything is mapped, coded and recorded in coordinates. Places considered "authentic" end up becoming, in just a few years, postcard tourist destinations for those looking for an "authentic" place to escape from tourism. Case in point: Thailand. Fifteen years ago it was an impossible and unknown place. Now everyone goes there. I haven't been there, but from what I've been told, the wonderful landscapes of Bangkok can be summed up in little people taking selfies and focusing more on capturing a photo to upload to their networks than on enjoying the landscape itself.
"The idea of exploration is deeply rooted in human beings and it is unacceptable to think that there is nothing left to discover. What we need to look for is ways to reinvent geographical exploration. Look at the ordinary. The ordinary streets, the places where we live, are full of secrets", says Bonnett.
A book that I recommend to you and that you will see how it creates an enormous desire to travel and to observe our surroundings. A simple practice of which we make less and less use. We have everything so easy that we lose our curiosity about things. To look at and enjoy nature itself and the world in general, has taken a back seat. The digital age has its pros and cons. And it's a pity, but we give more and more importance to appearance and forget about the essence. (What a rhyme I have come up with).
And you, which corner of the world would you like to explore?
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