Just got through reading Thomas Kohnstamm's Do Travel Writers go to Hell? A pretty interesting read that talks about the little known perils (and pearls) that are involved in travel writing for the Lonely Planet. I found one excerpt to be especially relevant to my time out here in Ulsan, as well as to some of the trips I’ve made this year. Here:
When a human becomes unbound from his or her place, it also affects the perception of time. The senses are inundated with new sights, smells, and sounds. The flow of new, often-shocking details make us more like wide-eyed children than jaded adults. There is more concentration, recognition, and appreciation given to details throughout the day. With no tether to a place and no base of reference, relationships and plans become hyperaccelerated. New best friends are made and then never seen again. Romances develop with the bottle-rocket trajectory of the Challenger. For my generation, the first that has always had a computer at home and that considered video games a normal childhood pastime, life on the road is one of the few things that actually overwhelm our tolerance for stimuli and shock us into the here and now.
