'But my journey around the world gave me a sense of global scale, of the size and variety of this extraordinary planet, of the relation of one country and one culture to another which few people experience and many ought to.'
To dispel any misconceptions: this book is not an in-depth recount of various cultures and different places, but rather provides snippets of elements within such cultures and places as a sort of enticing, brief introduction. Honouring the thematic and finite time period for Palin's travels, it was an unavoidable reality that he would be unable to immerse himself entirely into so many cultures around the world - particularly given the ever-present threat of having to be on the move almost consistently so as to match the fictitious feat of Phileas Fogg.
Rather, the central theme of 'Around the World in 80 Days' is the experience of travel itself.
The composition of Palin's narrative, embedded with enthusiasm, empathy and entertainment (a dubious allusion to his endearing British humour and patience - but so many words would have destroyed the alliteration!), makes for a light and eventful read; it is as though you are not only reading his travel journal, but partaking in his travels too.
Whilst relating his travels from London to... well, London (via Folkestone, Boulogne, Paris, Venice, Athens, Heraklion, Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Jeddah, Riyadh, Qatar, Dubai, Bombay (Mumbai), Madras, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Yokohama, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Aspen, Chicago, New York, and Le Havre), Palin depicts the highs and lows of the traveller - the formation and inevitably subsequent termination of friendships, the strain of time, the many facades of nature, the experience of new ideologies and patterns of living... and thus the list continues. For me, it is the presence of such elements in his writing that gives life to the printed words on the page - without the relation of such dynamics, this piece of non-fiction would own up to the contentious label as one-dimensional and boring.
Although often brief in singular locations, Palin's relation of the juxtaposing relationships shared between man and nature in different areas is enough to lure anyone into a state of wanderlust.
'For a long time, the land is just a smudge on the horizon, barely distinguishable from the sky, but the moment when it becomes definably land, when features can be picked out, is for me one of the most exciting moments of sea travel, especially when it is a new land. Sumrata was just a name I'd pored over in stamp albums and inky school atlases and read about in explorers' tales and quite probably Biggles stories. Now as I sit with the smell of wood smoke, roasting turkey and diesel fumes gently about me, it is slowly becoming a reality beneath a slow band of dark rain clouds on the south-eastern horizon.'
What I enjoyed most was Palin's narration of the stark contrast between the attitude of those from less developed worlds, and those in the privileged West; I was particularly surprised at the revelation that, as Palin writes, 'those who have least are prepared to give most' and are somewhat more accepting of their life and those around them. It would seem (through Palin's snapshot of the world) that more people of such a status also possess a greater enthusiasm and interest in life, whilst bearing a strong national identity. That which I found most challenging in such an idea, was how (in India) 'poverty and appalling destitution, malnutrition and deformity are on public view, but nervous breakdowns are almost unknown... the Indians do not betray impatience.'
And yet where I live, surrounded by blessings and opportunities many can only dream of, breakdowns and impatience are as common as rain in Hawaii's Mount Waialeale.
Such is something not illustrated in textbooks or syllabus', where the focus on the destitution suffered by such places stains and conceals the simultaneous and eye-opening presence of these radical cultural attitudes.
Does the extensive possession of material things truly connote happiness and the status as 'better off'? Perhaps such a status should be awarded to the possession of a more harmonious relationship between man and nature, and importantly, between one another.
Until later posts,
C
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