L´essentiel est invisible pour les yeux
Door: Jorrit
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jorrit
09 Maart 2013 | Argentinië, Ushuaia
´´Travelling is brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar confort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, sea, sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we image of it ´´ - Cesare Pavese
I´d like to add one essential ingredient to the stew of Pavese´s travelling; It´s a time where you can truly learn to give. Give unconsciously, give unconditionally, give constantly. You´re constantly giving others attention, your best since it´s not the people you normally meet every day. You can´t expect anything back, because the next morning you might be in a completely different setting with different people. You don´t know whether this offer here – a fruit you share with someone, a glass of wine you offer from your bottle – will somehow come back to you later on. And the trick is to surrender to that uncertainty, otherwise it makes your travel a whole lot harder.
You have to give, and it can be really easy.
About a week ago, I simply remembered the name – because I wrote it down, otherwise I would have definitely forgotten it - of the man who was catering my bus from Buenos Aires to Bahia Blanca the week before. I saw him again at the bus terminal in Puerto Madryn, I walked up to him and called him by his name, Martin. Just this little act of caring – because I did write his name down because I thought he was doing such a good job - made him glow with pride and recognition. I took another bus, but not before he let me go with a good bottle of wine under my jacket and the warmest wishes. And the wine turned out the be an excellent welcoming present for the coachsurf I got in Rada Tilly. Just a small example.
With 3000 km behind my back, the flow of travel is becoming part of my systems. Approximately 1200 kms I did on bus, which I regret now, and the rest was Hitched. It´s amazing how easily it goes. The mean time waiting on a hitch was 30 min´s and it´s great to stand at the road and watch the open space around you as you try to flag a car down. So far I also had to luck to be taken exactly where I wanted to go by every hitchhike I got. It does mean 4 or 5 hour rides to get to a substantially more southern part, which means a lot of time to improve my Spanish, but that´s better than the busrides which usually take you about twice as long and are half as comfortable.
To my merry surprise, I found out that I am following the exact same trail as Antoine du Saint-Exúpery – the famous writer of the Little Prince and a French pilot – as he was the first one to fly for the first Argentinian Airlines. That makes me somehow appreciate the journey I´ve made so far more; I was always yearning for French classes when we got trough the little princes stories, and it was cool to find out what the exact island was that gave him the inspiration about a hat that was actually an elephant, as many other things. Anyway, I hold it as a pleasant coincidence that the principito – it´s name in Spanish – on one of my booklets was born at one of the many desert miles that lie behind me.
The flow of travelling also makes my mind run more freely, which results – again, like 4 years ago – in a burst of creativity. The poems/lyrics are starting to come out again, and it´s only that I don´t have a guitar on my side that I found out some new guitar riffs. On the beach of Puerto San Julian I wrote:
´´Hij vloog, de tot vogel geworden mens
de kleurplaat van zijn dromen vullen
met zijn tot stand gekomen wens.
Hij vloog zo hoog en ver als de wereld hem toeliet,
keerde salto´s om de keerkringen van liefde en verdriet.
Hij wás vrijheid, met elke vleugelslag
die hem links of rechts droeg.
En zou hij antwoorden, als iemand hem ooit vroeg,
wat zou je doen als je mens was?
Vliegen, dat is gelukkig genoeg. ´´
(English translation, which messes up the tendency but at least explains meaning:
He flew, the man who became a bird,
filling the colour page of his dreams
with his wish that came true.
He flew as high and far as the world let him be,
turned salto´s around the tropics of love and sadness.
He wás freedom, with every stroke of his wings
that carried him left or right
And he would answer, if anybody ever could ask him:
What would you do if you were human?
Fly, because that´s just enough)
As I´m being at the end of the world, it´s good to know that things will get slightly warmer from here when I´m heading up north. My tent is a temple in the like of a coffin, but the inner tent is made straight out of mesh so I´m practically laying outside. Now, would it have been Nicaragua or Costa Rica, that wouldn´t have made a difference. (There a hammock is enough), but this is Patagonia in march and here the nights get cold, soon to be freezing.
The next days in Ushuaia will therefore be mainly to get extra clothing supply – New warm socks which I lost in Pt. Madryn! – and a cover for my sleeping bag. More importantly however is the need to find people to go to Isla Navarino or the Tierra del Fuego National park: both of which are to be acclaimed breathtaking hiking places. Since I´m in a hostel where there´s around 60 people, that shouldn´t be too much of a problem. (This is backpackers paradise!)
Well that leaves me to go to bed as straight as possible! The 12 hour busride of today kicked it out of me so I´m going to wish you all a good night from across the pond (others not) and I hope you all enjoy reading my whereabouts, thoughts and insights. I´m happy to write!
All the best and give care,
Jorrit
Ps. Oh by the way! I finished my 2 Dutch books and laid my hands on a German and Spanish book so from now on thinking in Dutch will hopefully really begin to vanish. Ciao!
I´d like to add one essential ingredient to the stew of Pavese´s travelling; It´s a time where you can truly learn to give. Give unconsciously, give unconditionally, give constantly. You´re constantly giving others attention, your best since it´s not the people you normally meet every day. You can´t expect anything back, because the next morning you might be in a completely different setting with different people. You don´t know whether this offer here – a fruit you share with someone, a glass of wine you offer from your bottle – will somehow come back to you later on. And the trick is to surrender to that uncertainty, otherwise it makes your travel a whole lot harder.
You have to give, and it can be really easy.
About a week ago, I simply remembered the name – because I wrote it down, otherwise I would have definitely forgotten it - of the man who was catering my bus from Buenos Aires to Bahia Blanca the week before. I saw him again at the bus terminal in Puerto Madryn, I walked up to him and called him by his name, Martin. Just this little act of caring – because I did write his name down because I thought he was doing such a good job - made him glow with pride and recognition. I took another bus, but not before he let me go with a good bottle of wine under my jacket and the warmest wishes. And the wine turned out the be an excellent welcoming present for the coachsurf I got in Rada Tilly. Just a small example.
With 3000 km behind my back, the flow of travel is becoming part of my systems. Approximately 1200 kms I did on bus, which I regret now, and the rest was Hitched. It´s amazing how easily it goes. The mean time waiting on a hitch was 30 min´s and it´s great to stand at the road and watch the open space around you as you try to flag a car down. So far I also had to luck to be taken exactly where I wanted to go by every hitchhike I got. It does mean 4 or 5 hour rides to get to a substantially more southern part, which means a lot of time to improve my Spanish, but that´s better than the busrides which usually take you about twice as long and are half as comfortable.
To my merry surprise, I found out that I am following the exact same trail as Antoine du Saint-Exúpery – the famous writer of the Little Prince and a French pilot – as he was the first one to fly for the first Argentinian Airlines. That makes me somehow appreciate the journey I´ve made so far more; I was always yearning for French classes when we got trough the little princes stories, and it was cool to find out what the exact island was that gave him the inspiration about a hat that was actually an elephant, as many other things. Anyway, I hold it as a pleasant coincidence that the principito – it´s name in Spanish – on one of my booklets was born at one of the many desert miles that lie behind me.
The flow of travelling also makes my mind run more freely, which results – again, like 4 years ago – in a burst of creativity. The poems/lyrics are starting to come out again, and it´s only that I don´t have a guitar on my side that I found out some new guitar riffs. On the beach of Puerto San Julian I wrote:
´´Hij vloog, de tot vogel geworden mens
de kleurplaat van zijn dromen vullen
met zijn tot stand gekomen wens.
Hij vloog zo hoog en ver als de wereld hem toeliet,
keerde salto´s om de keerkringen van liefde en verdriet.
Hij wás vrijheid, met elke vleugelslag
die hem links of rechts droeg.
En zou hij antwoorden, als iemand hem ooit vroeg,
wat zou je doen als je mens was?
Vliegen, dat is gelukkig genoeg. ´´
(English translation, which messes up the tendency but at least explains meaning:
He flew, the man who became a bird,
filling the colour page of his dreams
with his wish that came true.
He flew as high and far as the world let him be,
turned salto´s around the tropics of love and sadness.
He wás freedom, with every stroke of his wings
that carried him left or right
And he would answer, if anybody ever could ask him:
What would you do if you were human?
Fly, because that´s just enough)
As I´m being at the end of the world, it´s good to know that things will get slightly warmer from here when I´m heading up north. My tent is a temple in the like of a coffin, but the inner tent is made straight out of mesh so I´m practically laying outside. Now, would it have been Nicaragua or Costa Rica, that wouldn´t have made a difference. (There a hammock is enough), but this is Patagonia in march and here the nights get cold, soon to be freezing.
The next days in Ushuaia will therefore be mainly to get extra clothing supply – New warm socks which I lost in Pt. Madryn! – and a cover for my sleeping bag. More importantly however is the need to find people to go to Isla Navarino or the Tierra del Fuego National park: both of which are to be acclaimed breathtaking hiking places. Since I´m in a hostel where there´s around 60 people, that shouldn´t be too much of a problem. (This is backpackers paradise!)
Well that leaves me to go to bed as straight as possible! The 12 hour busride of today kicked it out of me so I´m going to wish you all a good night from across the pond (others not) and I hope you all enjoy reading my whereabouts, thoughts and insights. I´m happy to write!
All the best and give care,
Jorrit
Ps. Oh by the way! I finished my 2 Dutch books and laid my hands on a German and Spanish book so from now on thinking in Dutch will hopefully really begin to vanish. Ciao!
-
09 Maart 2013 - 10:56
Annemarie:
Wow Jorrit, zit je nu al in Ushuaia, dat heb je snel gedaan ....
Daar ligt ook nog ergens nog een ned. boek van mij of het moet inmiddels meegenomen zijn, waarschijnlijker... :-)
Inderdaad een prachtige omgeving om te wandelen (er zijn daar in de buurt ook veel bevers te zien). Ik heb vandaaruit ook een mooie zeiltocht gedaan en onderweg nog wat eilandjes anagedaan... dar was zeer de moeite waard, erg spannend vanwege de enome wind. Ik kan de steeds suisende wind van Patagonië soms nog horen/voelen.
Een bezoek aan de oude gevangenis en het museum (waar je een stempel in je paspoort krijgt ... het einde van de wereld) zijn ook de moeite waard. Geniet en blijf filosoferen en mooie mensen ontmoeten ...
Groeten vanui een nat Breda met voorspellingen van alweer sneeuw . -
09 Maart 2013 - 11:39
Deidre:
Heel fijn om je reisverhalen weer te lezen, ik krijg meteen de reiskriebels! Maar ach, die studie van mij moet ook ns af ;). Geniet ervan daar, het gaat je goed af zo te lezen en dat is fijn. Ik kijk uit naar je volgende verhaal! x Deidre -
09 Maart 2013 - 11:49
Wail:
Wow Jorrit, this is inspiring. Be safe and take care -
09 Maart 2013 - 15:24
Sándor:
Heerlijk reisverslag Jorrit, genieten om jou te zien genieten! Geniet, dat is echt genieten :p
Geniet dus, maar dat doe je wel.. Abrazo fuerte -
11 Maart 2013 - 16:21
Cees:
het paradijs van zuid amerika doet je goed lees ik.. mooi mooi mooi. Werkt inspirerend voor mijn eigen reisplannen.. voor de derde keer naar de mooiste uithoek van de wereld... don't forget The torres del Pain! Enjoy! -
23 Maart 2013 - 22:25
Tonny:
Geweldig wat je allemaal weer meemaakt...en dan dat prachtige gedicht!!
We kijken alweer uit naar je volgende belevenissen!!! Hopelijk heb je kunnen zorgen dat je het 's nachts warm genoeg hebt!!! Hier is het ijzig koud, maar hier is wel centrale verwarming!!! Lekker verder genieten, ervaren en beleven!!! Liefs van ons!!
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