It’s not easy. You’ve been hoping to get out and see the world but it’s been months, perhaps a year, or more. Every time you plan or even think about it, the Covid cases start to rise and… there comes the lockdown, yet again. And once again you are restricted to the confines of your home. Yes, you do love your home, but come on, you know how much you wish to travel. It’s understandable too. We have descended from the great voyagers and explorers of the past, people who crossed continents and conquered new countries. We can’t sit still at home… and we can’t travel in lockdown.
What do we do, then?
To answer that question, we will have to go back in time: in the spring of 1790. What happened then was something interesting, something that might hold the key to our present problem. Xavier de Maistre, a 27-year-old Frenchman, undertook a journey around his bedroom which — thankfully — he later recounted in a book titled Journey Around My Bedroom.
De Maistre’s journey tells us something interesting about travelling (especially about our concern regarding travel in lockdown). That there are two kinds of travels: one, where you plan for days or weeks, book your flights and hotels, pack your luggage, fly to a new city, see new places and come back home, hoping if you could have extended your stay; then there’s another approach which requires absolutely nothing, neither cost nor effort.
So, what does De Maistre does next?
Well, he locks his door and changes into his pink and blue pyjamas. Without the need for luggage, he travels to the sofa, the longest piece of furniture in the room. His journey, having shaken him from his usual lethargy, makes him look at it through fresh eyes and rediscover some of its qualities. He starts to admire the elegance of its feet and remembers the pleasant hours he has spent cradled in its cushions, dreaming of love and advancement in his career.
From the sofa, De Maistre then spies his bed. Once again, from a traveller’s vantage point, he learns to appreciate the complex piece of furniture. He feels grateful for the nights he has spent in it and takes pride in the fact that his sheets almost match his pyjamas. Then he gets lost in his own thoughts, something about his dog and then something else. This is not very different from what we do while looking through the window of an airplane.
To quote writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, “the pleasure that we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.” That is precisely what De Maistre discovered. If only we could apply a travelling mindset to our own locales, we might find these places no less interesting than the high mountains passes or vast, deep oceans.
To make matters simpler, here is a list of things that you can try during De Maistre’s kind of travels.
- Look at the objects in your room as if they were in some museum. So, instead of stuffing your room with too many objects, go for a few and spend some time with each one of them.
- Look for artistry in these objects, in terms of shape, color, or design. Seek fresh perspective each time.
- Make small changes in interiors from time to time. Changing the contents or arrangements of the shelves may not have a significant impact on the room, but it does affect our psyche. Plan everything as if you were planning for a guest in a hotel room.
- Try new music, new fragrances.
- Force yourself to cook, if you have to. Go for something that you don’t often find in your city.
- Take breaks from the routine. If that involves spending the day in bed, great, go for it.
So… what do you think? Are you ready to travel in lockdown, whenever that happens next?
Kalampedia 