Backpacker Fiction: Yeah, You're Hot...I'd Do You

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Yeah, You're Hot...I'd Do You

photography by Jack Brauer at www.widerange.org

What constitutes paradise changes person to person. It evolves with us as we age, reminding us both of the power of ideals and their propensity to change.

Looking at these amazing landscapes by American photographer Jack Brauer, I couldn't help but ask myself what it is that draws us to certain countries as travelers and not to others, and what exactly we mean when we say we've "done" a country.

A traveler's eyes usually catch the glow of that brilliant aqua as they relax into retelling the memories of having "done" a country they loved. Their descriptions become vivid; you detect a decibel of moan in their voice; they smile and sigh as though lighting a cigarette. And rightly so if bliss is what they experienced. Brauer's photographs radiate that bliss.

People have waterfall screensavers to remind themselves bliss is possible. That's usually the simple reason we decide on any destination: It holds the promise of beauty.

So when we stumble upon these glimpses of paradise, or even better, take ourselves out of our backpacking complaints of tired legs, unrecognizable food and damp, flat mattresses, to wake up to realize what exactly is seducing us, they reach into us and reduce our skepticism. They comfort us and assure us that "if all else fails..." They are the moments that leave us transformed and transfixed by the sheer exuberance of our planet and cultures. And like a good lover, they produce not only inspiration, but aspiration.

And the moment the traveler realizes the rarity of what's enthralled him, we become fiercely protective of them, cringing as others begin to enter the scene. Tourist draws such as Angkor Wat, the Pyramids, and Pagan in Burma all begin to feel like a crowded bedroom, everyone wanting a piece of that lover to take away with them. But what's left for you? Do you really want to give your heart away to something so promiscuous? Can you find a patch of unsoiled surface anywhere?

Those are the scowls seen on so many travelers' faces; those of a coitus disturbed and infrequent. But also what makes finding those swatches of pristine adventure so worthwhile in the first place.