Diverting Attention in Turbulent Times

Some days, I look at the news and wonder whether the people running the world have been left unsupervised for rather too long. Another argument, another crisis, another very important man explaining why everything is somebody else’s fault.

After a while, I need a break. Not because I have stopped caring, but because reading the same worrying story for the seventh time rarely improves it. It does, however, make the coffee go cold.

For me, travel helps. Sometimes an actual journey. Sometimes simply remembering one.

An old photograph is a useful escape route

Writing about past travels gives me somewhere else to put my attention. One photograph and I can be back in New York, New Zealand or Tahiti, remembering the people, the places and the bits that never fitted neatly into the holiday album.

A beautiful view is lovely, of course. But often it is a conversation, a small mishap or some perfectly ordinary detail that brings the whole journey back. You set out to write about a place and end up remembering somebody you met over breakfast.

It reminds me that the world contains rather more than the worst things happening in it. The news has its job. My old photographs offer a different view.

Planning a trip counts too. At least in my house.

There is also considerable pleasure in planning the next adventure. Looking at a map, reading about somewhere unfamiliar, imagining the first walk through a new place. None of this requires me to get through airport security just yet.

Of course, planning can become an occupation of its own. There is always one more route to compare or another place that looks interesting. Before long, a perfectly manageable journey has developed several extra legs and a budget that would prefer not to be discussed.

Still, it gives me something to look forward to. That matters. Even a journey that is only beginning as an idea can make an ordinary afternoon feel a little bigger.

A break, rather than a blindfold

I still want to know what is happening in the world. But I do not need every headline to move into my head and refuse to leave. Sometimes I close the news and work on a story instead.

Remembering a good journey does not solve a crisis. I would be suspicious of anyone claiming their holiday photographs could do that. It does help me step back for a while and return with a little more perspective.

So I will keep writing, remembering and occasionally spending far too long staring at a map. There are people worth meeting, places worth knowing and stories worth keeping. I would rather leave some room for those, too.

The headlines will still be there when I come back. With luck, the coffee will still be warm.

If you could use a little journey of your own, explore Mindful Journeys, or read the story of Tetiaroa, a place that stayed with me.