Walking
Hiking is a spiritual experience. The unhurried pace brings things back to their natural feel. Time becomes as slow as water, and the earth beneath your feet extends infinitely. The details of the ground, the tiny changes in terrain, the occasional sounds and smells, all become fascinating and irresistible.
People have also commented on the strange relationship between walking and thinking. The rhythm of the footsteps liberates the mind, just as a child lying in his mother's arms falls asleep with the sound of her footsteps. As the old saying goes: "To know is to walk", i.e. to solve problems by walking. Wordsworth created many poems in the process of walking, Nietzsche said that his philosophical discoveries are born in the walk, philosopher, psychologist Kierkegaard wrote: "I walked out of the most wonderful ideas."
Being in the era of an inch of time and an inch of gold, walking has become a luxury. But walking is one of the most original desires of mankind (a one-year-old child can't stop). It is not surprising that pilgrims still travel on foot today. The body purifies the mind, and the tangible contact with the earth reminds the pilgrim that man is but dust. A few years ago, China tried to build a highway around Mount Kailash in Tibet, but the idea of pilgrims driving up the mountain was so bizarre that the plan was abandoned.
Walking into a poorer country is like stepping into the orbit of its inhabitants. Whether the ground is vibrant or rocky underfoot, most of the world's people are still appendages of the earth. It is most enjoyable to roam in small countries where the changes in the land are imperceptible. Paths and meandering lanes are made by passers-by, weaving a network of villages, fields and wells, all in an era before tarmac. Walking along such roads is a delightful experience of the ancient character of the land. Without the constraints of steel airplanes and automobiles, this experience can only be called "deep travel".
Cycling
Cycling is not only the freest form of transportation, it is also the most egalitarian.
Nowadays, in some poor countries, billions of people trapped in villages enjoy the freedom of the bicycle, pedaling in and out of their villages to do business, to study, to fall in love.
Even in developed countries, the cyclist enjoys more freedom than other travelers. He weaves in and out of long lines of traffic, while drivers can only get angry. When the road is closed, the car driver can only angrily slam on the brakes and make a sharp turn, but the cyclist can not hesitate to ride on the sidewalk under the helpless eyes of the police, turn the rear of the car and continue to go. When visiting friends in the countryside, you can take your bike on the train, and when you arrive at your destination, you can continue to ride along the trail, through the woods, and up the mountain. When you get home, you can park your bike in the hallway or lock it on the side of the road.
At the same time, the bicycle is a good "egalitarian". Train enthusiasts can choose the Orient Express, airplane enthusiasts can choose a private jet, but even the most expensive bike doesn't make cycling elegant or glamorous. No matter how much money a cyclist spends on a bike, his ride still looks a bit ridiculous - bending over the handlebars, pushing the pedals and running towards the goal, just like life.
Hot air ballooning
The feeling of actually being in a hot air balloon is different from what you might imagine. Jacques-Alexandre Charles, who took his first hot air balloon ride from Paris in November 1783, describes the feeling of the balloon as it took to the air: "My whole body was immersed in pleasure, and the balloon opened a little bit, and all the troubles of this world fell away silently! ......"
Of course, those who don't like ballooning have good reason. It's easy to depart in a hot air balloon, but getting there can be a problem. As early as the 18th century, the first balloon travelers discovered that no matter how many trials were conducted to put wings, pulleys, and propellers on the balloon, it could not be guaranteed to land at the designated spot.
In 1785, French ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard and his team of experts from the French National Air Transportation Board (NATB) were invited to participate in a ballooning competition. Pierre Blanchard and American John Joffrey set off from Dover, planning to fly across the English Channel to Calais, France, 35 miles away. But they ended up in an unidentified patch of trees and in a very sorry state. Fearing that the balloon would carry too much weight, they threw away all their belongings along the way, starting out in furs and arriving in their underwear.
The real and the fictional about hot air balloons are intertwined to create their enduring fascination. 67 hot air balloons carrying parcels were able to escape from Paris during the Prussian conquest of the city from 1870 to 1871. These balloons delivered 2.5 million letters and boosted the morale of the people in the occupied territories - that's a fact.
In the 1860s, three Englishmen traveled from Zanzibar to Senegal in a hot air balloon, flying over an erupting volcano and being attacked by vultures - a fictionalized version of Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon.
Richard Holmes, a biographer who loves to travel by balloon, says that ballooning has given him a second childhood: when he saw the movie The Red Balloon at the age of nine, he imagined himself as the boy in the film, pulled by colorful balloons over the rooftops of Paris and flying into the wonderful unknown. This dream may have remained in his heart, and he grew up to enjoy the hot air ballooning time
moments are between the real and the unreal.
Sailing
"With the leisurely pace of the sails, you can savor every detail of the destination. If you really want to go somewhere and see it, going by sea and getting a little bit closer to it is the best way to do it" argues writer Jonathan Rayban.
With the sails down, it's easy to see the buoys from the sea. If you're lucky, there's a lot of buoys in one area; if you're not, you'll only see a few wicker markers. In the distance, the town looks like an irregular blot in the water spray. At high tide, proceed cautiously at half speed along the channel. In order not to miss any of the buoys, the driver must look back from time to time to make sure that the sailboat has not been pushed into the shallows by the wind. The long ripples in the water around the buoys make it easy to see the strength and direction of the water. As long as the tide is still high, it's not a big problem to have the keel down and the bow up.
At sea level, the face of the town also appeared from a new angle. The blurred has become clearer: grain elevators on the wharf, cooling towers, radio towers, statues on pedestals, white hotels with gold windows hiding the church behind them, with only a spire showing. It's hard to believe that the end of the voyage is approaching so quickly.
The more difficulties you encounter on the way, the more they stick in your mind. Even if you've been in a state of shock all the way, the extreme concentration and vigilance of sailing through a body of water leaves a mark on you: you're no longer just a tourist. And when you finally make it to shore with a rope, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment fills your chest.
Skiing
Skiing cleanses the soul.
What follows takes place in the Nurmakka Forest in Oslo, Norway. The forest stretches from the edge of the city to a ridge hundreds of miles inland. The land is covered so tightly with snow that one can barely smell the grass. In the frigid air, every breath hurts. However, it is so invigorating that it is as if every cell in your body has been awakened.
Skiing is a sport of beauty and thrill, offering a glimpse of the world's sacredness and romance. As you ski, your thoughts become disjointed and your consciousness goes blank. Hours, years, or even centuries seem to pass, and you finally stop. By now, the sky is pink and a silver moon is rising. You are tired and starry-eyed, but know in your heart that tomorrow you will have to return the same way.
The Bus Tour
If you want to see the unexpected, or meet interesting travelers, there's no better way to do it than by bus.
Buses are the most recommended mode of transportation for Oliver, the Africa editor of The Economist, who writes: "If you want to get across the border of an African country quickly, take a bus. Customs will be hard pressed to "knock" cabs or lorries, both of which are loaded with valuable cargo. The bus driver is a lifesaver, he's a fast and furious worker and, as a regular at the border, he knows how to get his passengers across the border in a big way.
As Oliver traveled from Accra, Ghana, to Lagos, Nigeria, he was seated to the left and right of a fast-talking evangelist and a matriarch's concubine, and behind him a politician, a reformed thief, and a young widow. The driver of the bus is also a voodoo clergyman, and the exchange of views on their respective faiths excites him more than any other mode of transportation.
Buses can be a refuge in difficult and troubled places. Northern Kenya is in turmoil, but when you're sitting next to a group of penniless people, you don't have to worry about being mugged by bandits.
In Tanzania, Oliver once traveled 1,000 kilometers in one day by bus from Dar es Salaam to the border with Zambia. He said the experience reminded him of an African proverb: "If you want to travel fast, travel alone; if you want to travel far, travel in company."
Translated by Zhang Bei