This Book Is About Travel

by Andrew Hyde

  “Paris Syndrome” is a transient psychological disorder that effects more than a few tourists a year visiting France. Everything is foreign and the body reacts in the way it would to any new world: your head spins as you question what you know and don’t know about the place you are in. But this looks like Paris. It feels like Paris. How is it that you can know so much about a place that you have never been to? How is it that you know not just what it looks like, but what it feels like? Stepping off the train, I note just how French everything is: the cadence of the language, the glow of the lighting, the smells of fresh baguettes and sweet spring lilacs, the rhythm of the streets, the way time seems to flow. It’s all just. So. French.

  We walk just to walk, wandering the streets and stopping occasionally to eat or drink or take a photo of the infamous architectures that carry centuries of memory; memories of centuries. I take a moment to realize that this is one of the bigger culture shocks of the trip.

  I feel the Syndrome. Well, maybe just an ounce, or, at least the spirit of the Syndrome. I am the syndrome. Am I? Really? What is this beautiful place and how am I this lucky to spend this moment here? Wait, how are we so lucky?

  I am spending a week in Paris with the only one in the world I would want to peruse these romantic streets, my red-headed dinner date from Doha. It’s an unexpected surprise as this whole trip started with a breakup, hit the middle point with a heartbreak, and is wrapping up with my holding hands with a fresh hand. Travel can be as romantic as individualistic, when the yearning for finding yourself competes with that for finding someone else. Springtime in Paris is about as romantic as I can plan and imagine.

  We walk around the Champs-Élysées (the Tour de France finish line to me, a historical marvel to her) and up to the Arc de Triomphe — reveling with linked arms in the 360 degree view of Paris. Up the stairs. Through the gift shop. Twelve roads converge into the roundabout on the Arc. The dresses flow and the flags wave in the warm breeze. It is just a few days after the election of the new French President and a nationalistic buzz is sing-songing its way about town. “This is a start of something new, of something greater” seems to be the vibe that fills the silence in the air. A notable spring in the step. A pride of self, of country. The Arc is sunning itself and shows the landscape of the city to be doing the same. Something big is brewing in the horizon.

  A hand held with an excitement of going someplace. Going forward from the past from which you have grown from. An excitement of movement, of possibility. A content moment just watching the traffic pass by. There is a distinct quietness to the motion of this city. It moves slower, somehow, than other places I have visited. There is an objective truth to these observations somewhere, probably, maybe, but it’s more likely all just a reflection of where I am mentally and emotionally in this moment.

  A pregnant woman with platinum blonde hair passes us walking towards Bastille‎ with red high heels, tights, bright makeup and a top that shows everyone that she is just casually making an effort today in her appearance. She has groceries and baguettes in her arm — coming from and going to a place I’ll never know. A cafe sits on every corner watching every tourist and Parisian stroll by. The cigarettes are there, as you know they should be with the Parisians. We are all a part of the scene, all a part of an old postcard.

  We sit down for dinner and I realize, suddenly, that I am illiterate. I’ve heard stories on how rude the French are to tourists and get a little panicked with my few words of French. “Bonjour.” Oh shit, that’s all I got. Fortunately, the moment our far-less-than-fluent French is revealed, the waiter switches to welcoming us in English and suggests we start our meal with a special appetizer for two. This gracious scene plays off again and again, meal after meal, experience after experience. The French were some of the nicest people I met on my entire trip — a cautious reminder for me that not all clichés play out to be true.

  I take a picture as I so often do cropping out any people in the area. I’m looking to get the feel of the space as if I was the only person there. I’m trying to capture my experience, my own “truth copy” within a frame. I’m addicted to landscapes over people in my travels. A landscape of the world is untouchable to me. It is something to admire, something that resists outright any real control that you might have over it. So many times I have attempted to come and gaze at a place while trying to stay separate from it, trying to stay in control of my experience. I imagine a mountain stream and wonder if I’m the rock or the water flowing around it. Do you place a focus on fitting in or changing the course of the river?

  Do I come in as a dictator, victim, observer, or savior?

  How do I come as just me? How do “we” come as simply “we?”

  On our final night in town, we get invited to an investor’s houseboat near and within falling distance of the Eiffel Tower. Sitting on the deck we become the focus of tourist cameras. Cheese plates and bottles of wine to pass around as we tell loud stories about our travels. The deck chairs seem iconic almost matching the architecture of the bridge just downstream. This is what the locals must live like, right? The wine is sweet and buttery, matching our current mood of celebration and appreciation. Cheers to the world.

  Musings of “people are incredibly complex. People can be filled with love,” fill the dinner conversation. We pass food, sip on local wine, and feel the reward of developing friendships. People without friends they have known for years scare me more than people without new ones.

  My beautiful date and I take a taxi back to our flat. Her head is on my shoulder, hand in mine. The week of romance, trust and jumping into something new is coming to an end and we are both not ready for it. We get out of the car in front of the flat and decide to take a walk around the block looking up at the few stars we can see above the christening rooftops. We walk together trying to figure just who we are.

  People are complex, and so is the world in which we wander and make our homes. My rationalization of everything seems too simple. Perhaps it always will be. But after so many months of life on the road, I feel more convinced than ever that the world isn’t really asking for our perfect understanding or gazing down from a perch on high. The world is simply asking for our engagement, our participation in it. It’s saying a Spring romance in Paris may be a cliché — just like an old postcard — but it is also something that you can live and make your own. We are both what we observe and what observes us. That “old postcard” that we all know so well, is a reflection of a certain dream of humanity — a dream that is as fictitious as it is real. The simplicity of experiences can be taken as a gleaming symbol of the Disneyfication, the gamification, of the world and our relationship to it. There is no getting out of it at this point, only an invitation to travel deeper in still. These clichés are as empty and dead as they are ripe and alive; as harmful as they are inspiring; as much apparitions of the past as they are pulses of the present.

  This is, more or less, what so much of my movement through our modern world has taught me. There is simply no one place where you can stand that lacks contradiction or comes with an easy and clean narrative. I’m telling one story that is genuine on one end, lacking viewpoints on the other, but complete in the way I see and live it with the people I love.

  One life, one bag, one story.

  Thank You

  It took the kindness of hundreds to make this project happen. Thank you to Matt Allard, Kathy Dragon, Frank Gruber, Jimmy Tart, Matt Matteson, Rich Grote, John Henry Müller, John M. Hobbs, Alex P. Gates, Ed O’Donnell, Rachel Mayo, Mike Hedge, Diana Kimball, David Amirault, Alex Hoekstra, Dan Lurie, Glenda Hyde, Dayton Hyde, Jeremy Tanner, Liz Henry, Jan Stewart, Ross Hill, Ben Williamson, Jay Cuthrell, John Fischer and Grant Blakeman.

  Thanks to the brave ones that read early versions of the book and provided valuable feedback:

  Dev Lavoy, Benjamin Chait, Corentin Cremet, Chris Messina, Christine Corbett Moran, Ken Smith, Mickey Twyford, Natalie Czaplicki, Brie Anne Demkiw, Regis Foinet, Jordan Kong, Greg Miller, Sh
onie Kuykendall, Ricardo Cardoso, Charley Hine, Ross Frazier, John Fischer, Sally Hyde, Kenny Hubbell, Tom Bakalis, Mohit Pawar, Craig Cannon, Valentin Menardie, Chris Cameron, Manuel Zamora, Amanda Williams, John Stein, Myriam Erdely, Steve Winawer, Halley Tucker, Brandon Hollas, Jenn Vargas, Jennifer Roberts, Brian Oberkirch, Miki Adderley, Jared Polivka, Nick Stevens, Richard Grote, Russell Kipnis, Vu Bui, David Mejias, Gregg Tobo, Jennifer Newell, Kelly Taylor, Megan Hebbe, Jasmine Yap, Dave Heal, Dustin Henderlong, Kevin Dungs, Cameron Mulder, Eric Walker, Patrick Aubry, Kyle Rodgers, Andrea Meyer, Kevin Buecher, Royce Haynes, Ray Wu, Young Kim, Alexander Matias, Miki Adderley, and Wendy Norris.

  Thank you to the Kickstarter funders that made this book possible:

  Aaron Costello, Aaron Patterson, Adam Bell, Adam Pearson, Aimee Giese, Ajai Karthikeyan, Al Doan, Alden Schell, Alec Zopf, Alex King, Alicia deaderick, Amanda Blum, Amy Murin, Andre Nantel, Andre Rattinger, Andrea Davis, Andrei Zmievski, Andrew Ferguson, Andrew Murray, Andrew Walton, Andy Ellwood, Andy Skinn, Andy Sternberg, Angie Kalea Ho, Ann Martin, Ari Newman, Arthur Sidorowicz, Arthur Vandeley, Avi Geiger, Barbara Walkowska, Ben Brinckerhoff, Ben Wills, Benjamin Chait, Benjamin Roodman, Benoit Doidic, Bill DAlessandro, Brady Forrest, Brendellya Thomas, Brian Howe, Brian Shaler, Brian Willis, Bruce Murray, Cameo Wood, Cameron Mulder, Cameron Robertson, Carl Nelson, Carly Gloge, Caroline McCarthy, Carrie Vitt, Casey Margell, Catherine Smith, CC Chapman, Chan Huang, Charlene Freeman, Chris Bolen, Chris Messina, Chris Noble, Chris Rosen, Chris Schultz, Chris Thorne, Chris Vaughn, Chris Young, Chum Wongrassamee, Cindy O’Keeffe, Collin Donahue-Oponski, Corentin Cremet, Courtney ORourke, Craig McDonald, Dan DeFelippi, Dan Moore, Dan Parham, Dan Vogel, Danh Hoang, Daniel Hefferan, Daniel Terdiman, Dano Manion, Dave Laferriere, Dave Pelland, David Clements, David Damore, David Kadavy, David Krevitt, David Wogan, Dawn DeSousa, Debra Pelzmann, Derek Dukes, Devin Reams, Donald Moore, Doug Young, Dylan Field, Earl Scioneaux,

  Ed Kowalczewski, Ed Nusbaum, Eila Alonzo, Elaine Ellis, Elaine Emmi, Eric Freeman, Eric G. Barron, Eric

  Marcoullier, Eric Ries, Eric Schapp, Eric Walker, Erika Helstrom, Erika Napoletano, Erin Huffman, Evan Prodromou, Felicia Goglas, Fred Medlin, Gabe Kangas, Gary Chou, Geoffrey Urland, George Ciobanu, Gerard Ramos, Glenda Hyde, Goetz Salzmann, Grant Blakeman, Greg Marra, Greg Miller, Heather Capri Buna, Hillary Hartley, Holly McNamara, Imelda Bettinger, Jacob Reiff, Jake Sutton, James Cox, Jameson Detweiler, Jared Polis, Jason Chiu, Jason Glaspey, Jason Hanley, Jason Kelly, Jason Moore, Jason Scott, Jay Crain, Jen Grant, Jenna Wortham, Jennifer Marie Newell, Jennifer Paull , Jennifer Roberts, Jennifer Ross, Jessica Post, Jim Mackay, Joel Bush, John Laramie, John Murch, Johnnie B. Baker, Jon Rossi, Jonathan Brennan, Jonathan Stephens, Jonathan Tarud, Jordan Moncharmont, Jordan Reinwald, Josh Fraser, Joshua Beeler, Joshua Pollack, Joshua Strebel, Justin Crowe, Kath Brandon, Kathia Zolfaghari, Kathy Daniels, Keith Robinson, Kevin Menzie, kitt hodsden, Korey Bachelder, Kristen Wheeler, Kyle Kuchinsky, Kylie Gusset, Lane Becker, Lane Becker, Lee Dale, Lesley Yarbrough, Lindsay Kandra, Linsen Loots, Lisa Besserman, Livia Labate, Luc Castera, Mandi Taylor, Marcelino Alvarez, Marcos Polanco, Marcus Nelson, Maria Costea, Marina Martin, Mark Bao, Mark Forss, Mark Tornga, Matt Cullen, Matt Emmi, Matt Galligan, Matt Gist, Matt Gunn, Matt Haughey, Matt Secoske, Matt Zarzecki, Meghann McCormick, Melanie Erickson, Melissa Ecker, Michael Chen, Michael E. Gruen, Michael Smith, Michael Tucker, Michelle Keating, Mike Dion, Mike Reedell, Mila Araujo, Miles Matthias, Monique Alvarez, Morgan Brown, Myles Braithwaite, Nate Westheimer, Neil Robertson, Netta Marshall, Nick Dalton, Nick Douglas, Niko Pipaloff, Patrick Vlaskovits, Paul Gerhardt, Perry Chen, Pete Warden, Peter Shankman, Pratibha Rai, Prisana Thunyahkulsajja, Ramez Naam, Restoration Media, Rick Turoczy, Rizwan Kassim, Rob Eickmann, Rodrigo Perez, Roman Roan, Rosalie Bartlett, Ross Floate, Ross Ingram, Rusty Blazenhoff, Ryan Howell, Ryan Hyland, Ryan Lane, Ryan Wanger, Sachit Gupta, Sandra Fish, Sarah Cooley, Sarah Gjestvang, Sarah Welch, Scott Beale, Scott Fleckenstein, Scott Shillcock, Sean Cappy, Sean Maggard, Sloane Berrent, Spencer Wyatt, Stefan Loble, Stefanos Kofopoulos, Stuart Longley, Susan Hyde, Suzan Bond, Taylor Beseda, Taylor Davidson, Ted Rheingold, Tessa Horehled, Thad McDowell, Thomas Marban, Thor Muller, Tieg Zaharia, Todd Huffman, Tom Nagle, Tony Pitale, Trent Hein, Vu Bui, Wade Simmons, Wendy Wright, Wolfgang Ziegler, Yancey Strickler, Yoav Lurie, Zach Hale, Zeke Weeks

  http://thisbookisabouttravel.com for updates

  If you have any questions please feel free to email me at andrew@anrewhy.de. My personal blog is at http:// andrewhy.de

  Please share the book with those you can talk travel with. Get out on the road.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  THE ADVENTURE STARTS

  Chapter 2

  OBSERVATIONALLY, A BLUFF

  Chapter 3

  THE LOOTED LIFE

  Chapter 4

  WEALTH, POVERTY AND KITTENS

  Chapter 5

  KASHKHAA KINDNESS

  Chapter 6

  TRUTH COPY

  Chapter 7

  GETTING LOST

  Chapter 8

  SEVEN QUESTIONS

  Chapter 9

  HOSTEL SHARKS

  Chapter 10

  INTERVIEW: LISA BESSERMAN

  Chapter 11

  A DRUNK MONGOLIAN RUSSIAN

  Chapter 12

  HOW I PLAN

  Chapter 13

  FRACTALS OF SEIZURES

  Chapter 14

  UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTANCE

  Chapter 15

  CAN’T EXPENSE

  Chapter 16

  INTERVIEW: ANNIE LYONS FITZSIMMONS

  Chapter 17

  MUSEUM AS SPORT

  Chapter 18

  UNDERPASS LIVING

  Chapter 19

  THE TRAGEDY OF NEPAL 2011

  Chapter 20

  DUDE RANCH

  Chapter 21

  BLOOD. POLICE. TOGA.

  Chapter 22

  REENTRY DEPRESSION

  Chapter 23

  INTERVIEW: TAYLOR DAVIDSON

  Chapter 24

  A NOTION OF HOME

  Chapter 25

  TRIOMPHE

  Thank You