Book Review: The art of travel

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I read the book, 'The Art of Travel' by Alain de Baton in 2021, on a trip to the Greek islands. I read it within a few days and was blown away by it, totally. It's been a long time since I read it, still I wanted to somewhere post what the book talked about. Below are some of the highlights for me.

  • The anticipation of what to expect on travel is sometimes much better than the actual travel because we forget the tough realities of the travel when imagining them (I think I feel the same about travel too now. It is never perfect, the place may not be as perfect as we have seen in the photos, and there is immense admin associated with planning longer travels. So my expectation from actual travels has gone down a lot also nowadays)
  • How you get to a travel destination is also interesting as the planes and trains used as transport are a huge part of the travel effort 
  • What someone finds exotic and interesting to travel to is mostly based on what they don't get at home (It might be true for me too, I long for peace and quietness in nature on most of my travels) 
  • Its more fun to travel when you are curious about what you will see and learn by yourself, rather than following a travel book with list of things to do (I can so relate to this so much, I like observing and writing about the smaller things I notice on my travels than tick marking the more obvious touristy things to do)
  • When it comes to nature, the countryside and nature helps bring peace and calm in city lives. While experiencing the sublime (larger than life) places bring about perspective and acceptance about life. 
  • Art and travel are linked as art can highlight the beauty of a place. Also art and artists don't need to and rarely render what they see in front of them. In fact, most artists highlights what they want to highlight, that which speaks to them the most
  • When it comes to beauty in travel, it's more about what you see and observe than what is actually there. Seeing the real beauty in a place is very relevant (and what is missing the most in travel today)
  • And lastly, you can always find beauty and peace at home, you don't need to go anywhere to find it anyways 

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