Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, speaker, philosopher and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He is perhaps best known these days for his quotes. "It's not the destination, it's the trip" is probably his greatest success. A seemingly simple but nevertheless profound statement.
I guess it was the constraints of a typical 2 week vacation that made people get to their destination as quickly as possible. You sit in the departure lounge on a miserable and gray Manchester Monday afternoon, and 14 hours later, you are on the other side of the world. Along the way, you've probably watched a few movies, read a book, or slept. Whatever you have done to pass the time, the only thing you have not done is to let the journey go organically. The fact that you are 12,000 miles away in a relatively short time is slightly surreal. You may have followed the trip on the plane's screen and watched your plane cross the oceans and continents, which will have given you an idea of your way to your destination, but you certainly did not experience the travel in the truest sense of the word.
I am a big fan of a road trip and it is my idea to travel to paradise. My first experience with this form of vacation was a child. We descended from Sheffield to Dover, crossed the canal and then slowly snaked through France. We avoided the Toll and stayed on routes A or B. There was no sense of urgency to go to the south of France. We visited charming towns and villages. We stopped when we wanted to. The trip lasted almost three days and it was probably my most memorable trip. Supreme glory crowned the Jura mountains. In the distance, the sparkling mirage looked like a vision of the snow-capped summit of Mont Blanc. In the foreground, I could make out the huge Geneva fountain spouting water into the air. There were other memorable moments, the discovery of Annecy was one of those moments that I will always cherish. We made a small detour near Grenoble to admire the Alpe d'Huez. Imagine the thrill of this 12 year old boy riding a bike on one of the most emblematic climbs of the Tour de France.
Finally, upon arriving at our campsite, I had a concrete idea of the distance covered and the subtle changes that had taken place along the way. A real sense of what a journey of 1000 miles means in terms of architecture, culture, climate and geography. The trip was more memorable than the vacation itself. Being in the south of France made sense in a way that would not have been possible if we had flown. More importantly, it sparked the desire to experience this type of travel more often.
Somewhere, somewhere along the way, the destination has become more important than the journey. We are so absorbed in our processes, completing each step, that we forget to experience stops along the way. In my book, stops along the way are the destination, little by little until you reach your goal.
Danny Frith is director of SkiBoutique. SkiBoutique is a luxury ski chalet agency based in Switzerland. If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog to increase your profile, please contact us.
