Journeys
Over the last few years Mark has found himself constantly in transit: moving house on numerous occasions; commuting weekly to university; train journeys to London for meetings; flying or driving to visit family… and he has found more and more of that travelling happening at every conceivable time of day: through the night; as dawn is breaking; peak rush hour and with a replication of journeys: the same roads, the same service stations, the same left turn to make a short-cut and the same train guards or staff on the platforms.
So, he started to consider other people’s journeys. Was their travel predominantly for pleasure: to escape the cold and to get some sun; to broaden their knowledge of other cultures; to see famous iconic landmarks... or was it for other reasons (commuting to work for example) or even essential to their job (long-distance drivers, pilots and train ticket inspectors are but a few)?
Are positive memories only linked with social or leisure travel or can a work commute also have a favourable thought attached? By associating an upbeat memory to a trip can that turn a previous journey into an important recollection? Is it the memory that differentiates a journey from travel? Is a journey more emotive? Current culture emphasizes a focus on living in the moment. “It’s the journey, not the destination”. “It’s not where you’ve been or where you’re going. What is important is where you are now.” But what if the destination is better than the journey? Is the journey to be tolerated because of the end goal?
Being an inherent part of human nature, to travel, Mark wanted to delve deeper and explore other people’s stories.
