The Art of Travel

I just read this amazing book, "The Art of Travel" by Alain de Botton. Seriously, I cannot put into words how much I love this book.

It was recommended to me a while ago by my old flatmate Justin. He spent over a year traveling around Asia and I was talking to him about how nervous I was to go on my big trip. He told me to read this book to calm down but alas, in the crunch to get out of Seoul, I didn't get a chance.

A few weeks ago, I was at the local foreign bookstore and I saw it and bought it right away. I have been known to devour books but this one I took my sweet time and savored it for two whole weeks.

De Botton divided the book into sections and he uses different artist/writers to illustrate his points. It felt like he was reading my journal at some points. De Botton nailed so many of the feelings you get when traveling. I especially loved his chapter on the sublime and on beauty.

I have been taking some of his points to heart and trying to treat my city like I'm a tourist here, appreciating new things and really looking at the beauty here. It's paid off already. I was in a cab going across the river the other night and the lights of the building reflecting off the water was beautiful and stayed in my mind for days after. I live in such a vibrant city full of all sorts of cool stuff, I really should be more open to experiences here. Seoul used to be so foreign and "other" to me and now it's just ho-hum. Time to shake that off!