Topic: morning journal
I fell asleep last night w/ a copy of the book “Vagabonding” on my lap. I’ve read the book before, it’s a guide of sorts for long-term world travel. When I first read it, I was in a stage of life where I was fairly directionless and I could jump on a plane at a moment’s notice.
Now…I’m reading it with a bit of time on my hands, since I will be teaching in NYC the next two years. The author, Rolf Potts, points out that vagabonding, as he defines it, is not just the act of travel, but is a lifestyle as well. Not a social statement or moral highground, he says, but a private decision as to how one wishes to live. An attitude of sorts.
Putting philosophy into practice is never easy, but I enjoy Potts’ philosophy. He discusses work in an ironic way, saying labor is the key to freedom. Given the choice between travels paid by one’s parents or other means, or travel that comes from money earned through ones labors, he chooses the latter. He compares this to a story Henry Throreau tells of a young boy who creates a pen knife by digging ore from the ground, and smelting it into a knife, versus a boy who is given a knife from his father. “Who is more likely to cut himself?” he asks.
I do see reason to differ with Potts on some things he writes, and I think he might agree. He believes that short-term vacations are in some way less valuable than the type of long-term vagabonding he lives by. While I agree that there is certainly much to be gained by long-term travel, and by the type of travel that puts you more in touch with local cultures than your typical packaged vacation, he is clearly writing for a specific audience only. He acknowledges early that this type of travel is not for everyone, and so he can assume his readership is the type that is interested in taking time off, quitting their jobs, putting life on hold to explore abroad. Still, he attempts to make a moral judgement on life that I agree with, but clearly is not universal.
Potts spent 2 years teaching in S. Korea as a means to fund some of his other travels. In two years, when I’m 27, I may embark on something similar, it’s hard to say right now where I’ll be and what I’ll want. But I now see the value in not vagabonding, at least not right now. It is a challenge in itself to find that vagabonding experience in one’s home, and I do grant that Potts does offer this as the vagabonding “gestation period,” as I wrote about a while ago.
In other news, my mom is big into both cooking and gardening, and she recently made (with minor assistance on my part) this amazing poached salmon, using fresh dill and basil. Basic strategy, put the fish in tin foil and place in a cooking tin. Cover the fish w/ white zin about 1/4″ then add your herbs, lemon, pepper. Fold up the foil so it creates a dome of sorts, and then fill the cooking tin w/ water. Set to 350, cook for about 30min., and presto. Serve chilled w/ a mustard/dill sauce if you like, which is a mixture of vinegar, mustard, and dill, and compliments the fish nicely. On the side, a little baked potato and creamed spinach, with some asparagus baked with olive oil and pepper as well. Oh my!
