by EMMANUEL R. FERNANDEZ
One of the advantages of being assigned to a European post is the vast
opportunity it offers for traveling.
This is especially true if you are posted to a European country that
belongs to the so-called Schengen zone – a group of European countries that
have agreed, among other things, to do away with visa requirements as far as
the cross-border travels of their citizens are concerned. In the case of those assigned to Italy, for
instance, possession of the carta
d’identita (identity card) issued by the Italian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs is enough, if you wish to travel to other Schengen countries such as
France, Spain or The Netherlands. You
no longer need to apply for a visa to enter these countries. Showing your carta d’identita to their border police or their immigration
officers would suffice.
Not only that, low-budget airlines offer airfares that are so cheap,
traveling from Italy to Spain or France can actually cost less than treating a
couple of friends to dinner at a typical Italian restaurant.
Yet, while in Rome, one does not even have to look beyond the borders of
Italy to satisfy one’s desire to travel and see new places. Every Italian region (nay, every province
within a region) has something unique to offer;
it deserves to be visited at least once.
Aware that my term in Italy would not last forever (the normal length of
a foreign assignment being six years) and that it might take a while before I
get assigned again to a European country, I tried my best to avail of every
opportunity to travel both inside and outside Italy during my sojourn there. I took the chance to visit Paris, Cannes,
Nice, Monaco, Lourdes, Barcelona, Montserrat, Madrid, Amsterdam, Geneva,
London, Athens, Milan, Turin, Venice, Verona, Padova, Pisa, Cremona, Florence,
Naples, Taranto, Sorrento, Pompeii, Palermo, Reggio di Calabria, and a number of other Italian destinations,
thanks to the ease and economy of traveling while in Europe.
It is often said that traveling broadens one’s horizons. Indeed, being exposed to ways of thinking and
living which differ from one’s own expands the range of one’s
perspectives. As a result, one becomes
more flexible in one’s views and more tolerant of other people’s divergent opinions
and beliefs. No wonder, a lot of people
claim that traveling is a form of education.
In fact, many people suggest that traveling should complement one’s
formal education, for there are certain things that one will learn from
traveling which one will never learn within the four walls of a classroom.
My own limited experience in traveling has certainly pushed back the
frontiers of my understanding in no small way.
But it has done one other important thing besides.
I have noticed that every time I travel to a place which I feel I may
never have the chance to visit again, I
literally make every effort to ensure that it is going to be a most enjoyable
and unforgettable journey. Days before
I actually take the plane or the train for my intended destination, I try to
read every literature I can get hold of regarding the place I am going to
see. I try to learn about its history,
its culture, its current economic, political, social and religious conditions. I even try to learn a little of its language
within the limited time I have before the actual journey. Aside from the obvious practical advantages
of knowing how to say “Where is the washroom?” or “How do I find my way back to
the train station?” a little knowledge
of a people’s language will enable one to view the world through their eyes, so
to speak.
Moreover, as soon as I board the plane or the train, all my senses
become more attuned to their surroundings than they would normally be. It is as if my eyes, my ears, my nose, and
even my mouth and skin would like to absorb every particle of the journey I am
undertaking. I notice sights, sounds,
smells, and tastes I would have been oblivious to, had I encountered them along
the roads of my everyday life.
Finally, in my desire to make the most of the journey, I would not, if I
could help it, allow anything to spoil the fun.
Snags and glitches that would have disturbed my balance under normal
circumstances become petty and forgettable while I’m on the road. I would not permit such “small problems” to
ruin my trip. I always remind
myself: I may never get the chance to
undertake this journey again. I want to
be able to remember this moment, many years from now, with a smile on my face
and the sound of laughter in my heart.
The metaphor of life as a journey has been used for so long, it has
become hopelessly trite for a lot of people.
Yet my travels have taught me that, hackneyed as it may be, the metaphor
remains a good one; and it is worth keeping the image in mind as we undertake
this “journey without an encore” – this “trip” we will surely not have the
chance to take again after our time on earth is done. I am, of course, speaking of the life you and
I have been granted the privilege to live for a given number of years.
We only live once, and we will not live forever. Yet how often do many of us live as if life
were a reel of tape we could rewind and fast-forward at will? We often take the hours and days of our life
for granted. And we throw away the joy
of the present moment by wasting our time regretting our past mistakes and
worrying about the future. Before we
know it, our chance to journey through life is over. And we realize with sadness that we have
barely enjoyed the trip.
Not so long ago, I came upon the following poem attributed to a fifth
century Indian poet and playwright named Kalidasa:
Look
to this day!
For
it is life, the very life of life.
In
its brief course lie all the verities
and
realities of your existence:
The
bliss of growth,
The
glory of action,
The
splendor of beauty;
For
yesterday is but a dream,
And
tomorrow is only a vision;
But
today, well lived, makes every
yesterday
a dream of happiness
And
every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look
well, therefore, to this day.
If we’ve forgotten how to relish the
irretrievable moments of our journey through life, it’s never too late to
relearn it.
