Mediocre Memories
At the end of every summer, social platforms tend to get overtaken
with throwback posts that reminisce on good times spent with a variety of
people in a variety of locations. Although this ''phenomena'' is most abundant
at the very end of the summer, it never exactly comes to a stop, i.e. it is
everpresent throughout the whole year. Naturally, I, too, dip my toes into the
waters of nostalgia, however, in the past year or so, it had come to my
attention, that I'm most nostalgic about completely mediocre moments of my
travels. For example, I'd be going about my day, when a feeling would wash over
me (as it does), and I'd suddenly find myself wanting to walk around a parking
lot in Rovinj, or freezing my coastal meditterranean butt off while wearing a
spring jacket on cold and foggy Holmenkollen, or waiting for dinner time in a
hotel room on the outskirts of Stockholm. Compared to all the great adventures
and museums and sights we all experience on our travels, talking about gray
parking lots and the tiles in the bathroom of my hotel room in Stockholm is
nothing short of being inexplicably boring/uninteresting. However, upon giving
this topic a bit more thought, I've reached some form of a philosophical
conclusion (who would I be if I didn't
at least try to sneak some philosophy in my posts).
Here's the thing: travel has never been and never will be
nowhere near being completely stress-free and flawless. We've all endured the
loss of certain objects, various stages of cultural shock, misunderstandings
with the locals due to the language barriers etc. While paying a visit to all
the standard tourist attractions is undeniably great and provides a great
opportunity for all the instagrammable (or generally just sharable) photos, we
all now that that is no way to truly experience a location you're exploring.
Thus, like the photos that are taken on those tourist attractions, everything
is posed. A country/city is best experienced when the traveler steps off the
beaten path and weaves into the spaces that genuinely belong to the locals
instead of the tourists. In addition, if and when the traveler opts for a
packed schedule consisting only of landmarks+tourist attractions, the times
that are best remembered are the mediocre ones. Simply because in those, the
traveler isn't merely passing by certain aspects of a location in order to take
the general photos and run along to stay within the assigned schedule, but
instead exists in it. Waiting in line at a grocery store only to buy a snack
and a bottle of water, we notice the interaction between locals, we see what
kind of food the locals like, we get a better undrstanding of the place we're
visiting than we would had we only been mingling around the tourist
attractions. Similarly, walking down a parking lot in Rovinj got me to
encapsulate the summer heat, especially due to the overheated asphalt, that
would give me 2nd degree burns had I been so reckless as to step onto it
barefoot.
The mediocre moments are the ones that make the travel
real, they make us aware of our existence in that place. It is a shame to go to
a city and not see it in its true form. So next time, when you find yourself
somewhere completely without context, do yourself a favour and take it in,
appreciate it for what it is, pay attention to details that make the space
unique or genuine, and maybe you too will find yourself being nostalgic about
completely mediocre things instead of the spotlight moments, thus having your
trip immortalised in mediocre memories.
(All photos are taken somewhere in between on a select
few of my travels)
To what extent do you agree with me? Do you prefer the
tourist attractions or the hidden gems?
x, Valens
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