working keystone

At the start of this project, I decided to research just a little bit about the history of travel journals 1 . The
first published travel journal is credited to the Greek Author Herodotus from the year 440BCE from his
travels around the Mediterranean. His tales and images inspired the desire for people to travel.
Famous traveler Marco Polo also wrote about his travels with the intent that people would follow his
trails. Sharing travel stories have thus always inspired more travel. The stories of travelers also served
as an educational tool for those who could not.
In Medieval and Renaissance eras, travel was dangerous and costly therefore travel stories were
important as a way to vicariously enjoy and learn from the traveler’s experience. It has long been
established that travel is educational and important for the individual in both gaining an understanding
of the world around us, our own self-awareness and discovery, and the relationship between the
“other” and ourselves. Although, some people argue that there is a culture of mass tourism that has
created a “more banal experience, performed by hordes of brightly-dressed people who no longer
explore.” Instead, travel is about seeing all the popular sites and remaining picturesque and staying
comfortable in plush hotels and restaurants. This mass tourism overriding a true sense of travel is not a
new concept. 1768 author Laurence Stern felt that most aristocrats of his time did the same thing of
just visiting the great cultural sites of the important classical cities 2 . He prides himself on instead
“deliberately avoiding all the great monuments and cathedrals, and instead embarks on a personal
voyage, to meet unusual people, seeking out new and spontaneous
experiences.”
I am not trying to claim that my experiences have been
the most unique. My first trip certainly fell under the type
of trip that just focused on the most touristy locations, but
the two I did with Humble Walk have started to veer more
towards truly experiencing the local culture. In this book, I
will also try to stay away from writing as if this is one of the
many online travel blogs that make everything look perfect
about travel. I want these writings to reflect truthfully on the
full range of emotions travel produces. There are many times
when cultural differences can cause discomfort and
frustration. And as I was rereading my experiences I had many
new thoughts about the trips and my own reflections, so these
I included as the italicized parts.
My daily journal I took to Argentina
1
Most of the information in this section was found from this source. Monga, Luigi. “Travel and Travel Writing: An Historical
Overview of Hodoeporics.” Annali D'Italianistica, vol. 14, 1996, pp. 6–54. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24007431. Accessed
27 Mar. 2020.
2
All information about Laurence Stern was found here: Perrottet, Tony. “The Top Ten Most Influential Travel Books.”
Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 Mar. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-top-ten-most-influential-travelbooks-6072030/.
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