Journal 5

When we think of the main focus of our class, we ultimately think, travel. With travel comes certain many subjects, however one main focus which we will be looking at is the crossing of borders. If it’s one thing you must do when traveling it is the crossing of borders. Whether you are traveling from one town to the next, a separate state, or to another country, you cross an imaginary line which separates different areas from each other. Now to open, it is important to remember that borders are not strictly defined as the separation of one town to another, from one state to the next or even separate countries. Borders can also be defined as a language barrier, religious sections of countries, in some unfortunate cases, blacks from whites. Borders can be any type of classification separating one area from the next, and when traveling one must cross those borders in order to complete their travels.

I would like to open the next subject of boarders with a question. What good is travel writing, if you cannot express, record, share, or bitch of your travels? Branching from this question, it is imperative that any writer aspiring to tell of their travels find a means of dictation for their travels. Throughout our course we have learned of different means of recording, such as a diary or journal. Travel writers are not limited to only these Stone Age methods of recording, however. Thanks to the luxury of technology, travel writers are now able to voice record travels, use a laptop to type, or even record footage or take pictures to go along with their writings, giving the reader a more firsthand account of their journeys.

Looking at some specific works, I would like to mention Kapuscinski and his writing Travels with Herodotus. Throughout this writing Kapuscinski tells of his experiences in different cultures outside of his own nation. One thing which must be understood is that when you travel, especially in the case of Kapuscinski who came from a communist controlled country, you may feel like an outsider when indulging in  cultures of other nations; which is exactly what Kapuscinski felt while traveling to Italy, India and Greece.

In the Amazonian Packet we read of Mary Russels travels from native Dublin to her experiences in hostile Bosnia, an area which did not cater to the freedoms and respects of women as Dublin did. Having said that, I feel that the major border crossing which Russel had to cross was the gender border, as she traveled to an area where she had to fear for her safety and even her life, simply because she is a women.