For teachers, summer is a time of relaxation. A time to recuperate and rest after being hard at work in the trenches during the Battle of the School Year, and trust me, we need the break. Teaching is a taxing job. It truly takes a serious amount of energy and without the breaks we have throughout the year, especially the long one in the summer, I honestly don’t think I would be able to do my job effectively and with the same level of passion. So yeah, I am LOVING my summers and how I can use them to reset and recharge so I can be prepared physically, emotionally, and mentally to take on the next school year.

The past two summers, I have been blessed with opportunities to travel overseas for several weeks. Last summer I went to England (this was my first time out of the USA) and this summer I was able to add Ireland to my list. People talk about catching this “travel bug”, which sounded absolutely ridiculous to me, but after being outside of the country twice now and planning to go again next summer, I realized maybe people are actually on to something…

I am going to side track for a second, but I promise this will all connect the further on you read, so stay with me. I know this blog is named after C.S. Lewis, but I am going to bring up another favorite author of mine who came before Lewis and who’s writings played a role in Lewis’ conversion. His name is Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton . If you are Catholic, you have problem heard of him through his abundance of Catholic apologetic writings and witty quotes. If you are not Catholic, you might have heard of him through his famous book series about a detective priest named Father Brown. If you haven’t heard of him at all, I just introduced you to one of the best writers of the 20th century. You’re welcome 🙂

Chesterton was a man of many interests and talents, including literature, poetry, philosophy, theology, and art. He reminds me a lot of the infamous “Renaissance Man”. Because of his diverse passions, his writings span a variety of topics, one of them being TRAVEL. I told you it would all connect! When I stumbled upon Chesterton’s writings where he talks about travel I felt a deep connection with what he was saying. He was able to take the indescribable experiences I’ve had and portray them beautifully in such a simple and eloquent manner. Experiences that I had trouble relating to friends, he was able to illustrate with very few sentences. It simultaneously blew my mind and gave me a sense of peace knowing that other people understood what I felt too. Below I am going to unpack (pun intended) two Chesterton quotes that helped me make sense of why the experience of traveling is so life-changing and appealing to so many people, how traveling with the correct mindset makes a huge difference, and why I recommend that you travel at least once, if not more, in your lifetime.

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton is often referred to as “The Prince of Paradox” due to the fact that he liked to prove a point by turning it inside out. This first quote is pulled from a short story he wrote titled “The Riddle of the Ivy”, in which he talks about the paradox within traveling. If you read the quote, you can already begin to see the contradictions at play, The story starts out with two men conversing. One man is packing, getting ready to go on a trip, while the other is asking where he is going. The man packing replies that he is going to Battersea. As you read on, you begin to realize that Battersea is where they are at currently and it makes no sense that this man is packing to travel to a place he is already located. The conversation that starts up at this point in the story is super important, so I am going to go ahead and insert it here. Take a look!

“I suppose it is unnecessary to tell you,” said my friend, with an air of intellectual comparison, “that this is Battersea?”

“It is quite unnecessary,” I said, ” and it is spiritually untrue. I cannot see any Battersea here; I cannot see any London or any England. I cannot see that door. I cannot see that chair: because a cloud of sleep and custom has come across my eyes. The only way to get back to them is to go somewhere else; and that is the real object of travel and the real pleasure of holidays. Do you suppose that I go to France in order to see France? Do you suppose that I got to Germany in order to see Germany? I shall enjoy them both; but it is not them that I am seeking. I am seeking Battersea. The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as foreign land. Now I warn you that this Gladstone bag is compact and heavy, and that if you utter that word ‘paradox’ I shall hurl it at your head. I did not make the world, and I did not make it paradoxical. It is not my fault, it is the truth, that the only way to go to England is to go away from it.”

 

I absolutely love this story, mainly because of Chesterton’s witty banter, but also because after traveling overseas and coming home to the United States I had the same sense of rediscovery the man in the story had as well. After being in a foreign country for so long, what was once foreign became familiar to me and my home country which was once familiar became foreign. It completely switched everything in my life around. The only way for me to go to America was to go away from it, just like Chesterton said. When I came back home from England the first time, it took me a couple weeks to readjust back to my life here. Everything felt so new, like I was living my ordinary life for the very first time. I was seeing everything with fresh eyes. It almost felt like England was my home and America was a whole new world. It was a strange, but life-changing experience for me. One that I will never forget. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the country I live in and the life God has blessed me with. I’m not sure if I would have ever gotten that perspective if it weren’t for traveling. 

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. – G.K. Chesterton

This second quote is not from a short story, but from Chesterton’s autobiography, a book he never wanted to write in the first place, but only agreed to after much insistence from family and friends 🙂 The first time I read this quote, I immediately thought back to the group I have traveled overseas with the past two years. Our group’s famous motto is “Travelers not Tourists”. I think Chesterton would wholeheartedly agree. So why is this distinction necessary? Why is being a tourist such a bad thing? Chesterton’s logic was travelers go to places to experience them for what they are, and not what they expect them to be. Travelers don’t bring any “baggage” with them. Tourists, on the other hand, go to places toting along all their preconceived expectations, misconceptions, and prejudices. They already have an image in their mind of what the experience is going to be like, everything is already planned out in their head, and because of that their journey is limited by their own state of mind. Sounds pretty rigid and boring to me. I definitely don’t think Chesterton was against having a general plan when traveling, but he believed that being flexible and open to the present moment was the best way to travel. After being overseas twice now, taking in the countries I visited as they were, and being open to new experiences, I can now say that I am with Chesterton on this one.

For those of you who have never traveled outside the country before, I highly recommend at least doing it once in your life. If you don’t have the means to go outside of the country, just go outside of whatever state you are living in. Get away from what is familiar to you and experience something outside of your normal routine. When you come home, you will be able to see your life with fresh eyes and with a new appreciation. Just make sure when you leave, you go as a traveler and not a tourist! If you enjoyed this post please comment below and share it with your friends. I would love to hear about any travel experiences you’ve had and how they have impacted you. As always, I would love to hear your stories 🙂

 

Blessings from Beyond the Wardrobe,

Nicole