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Visionaries in the Global Travel Tourism Industry

The global travel and tourism industry is the largest on the planet. But there are some people who understood better than others the far-reaching implications of our need to see beyond the immediate; to see the “interconnectedness and interdependence of all things.”

Such an individual was Ed Beauchamp.

The following is from a media release by The International Institute for Peace Through Tourism

Edward L. Beauchamp (Ed), Founder of the World Tourism Foundation died peacefully at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA this past month at the young age of 62.

The non-profit World Tourism Foundation (WTF) and the for-profit World Tourism Network (WTN) were created BY the industry FOR the industry – together building a globally shared brand for the travel and tourism industry, much like VISA did for the credit card industry. Ed believed that the world’s largest industry revolves around the smallest destination. His vision was for the World Tourism Foundation icon to be seen on both Destination and NGO websites around the world. With one click on it, consumers would be able to navigate a full range of supplier choices and build a complete itinerary in a secure and trusted environment.

Louis D’Amore, president and founder of IIPT stated:

“Ed Beauchamp had a great vision for tourism and the world – a vision which found expression through the World Tourism Foundation to which he devoted the last one third of his life. The greatest tribute that can be made to Ed by those who knew him and believed in his vision, is to continue supporting his wife and partner in WTF, Cj Duffy in realizing Ed’s dream for the World Tourism Foundation.”

Ed’s vision was for a “Doing Well – and Doing Good” business model with industry stakeholders from all levels, of every sector, of every country sharing in its ownership. He believed that such an ownership model was well positioned for the physical, economic, and social changes currently taking place in the world.

Suppliers would have substantially lower distribution costs through the for profit World Tourism Network – with revenues from transactional fees shared with the non-profit World Tourism Foundation to be distributed through grants towards poverty reduction, environment, climate change, education and more.

Publisher of the World Tourism Directory, Burkhard Herbote said,

“In our many discussions, Ed talked about WTF plans for education, creating jobs and reducing poverty, sustainability, environment and climate projects, renewable energy, youth exchanges in areas of conflict, and more i.e.”Peace Through Tourism”.

eTN Publisher and ICTP chairman Juergen Thomas Steinmetz said: “Ed inspired many with his passion for tourism. I was pleased to serve on his board as a founding trustee. Ed’s support and guidance will be missed.”

Max Haberstroh, International Tourism Consultant commented,”

Ed’s passing away has shocked us all. We have lost an extraordinary personality, a visionary with mind, heart and soul. Many of us can say we have lost a friend.”

Zeal Greenberg, Chairman and Co-Founder, World Development Endowment Foundation said,

“Ed’s great spirit will always be with us. I cherish the countless conversations and creative sessions we had.”

Agha Iqrar Haroon, Founder and President of The Region Initiative (TRI) expressed his condolences for a person for whom he had a “soul connection.”

He added:

“TRI is honored to announce an Edward L. Beauchamp Ecotourism Scholarship to be granted to the best student of tourism in South Asia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.”

Ed was fond of quoting his wife and partner in WTF – WTN:

“Tourism provides the only remaining realistic path to peace!”

Photos by Bob Fisher

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Unspeakable passion

For a number of years I taught the opera Carmen to young people. It was, in many ways, the perfect vehicle for helping hormone-hungry teenagers make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

In those days, the expression of sexuality was still relatively taboo territory. The struggles between Carmen and Don José were complex and multidimensional (understatement); which many of my students understood intuitively.

But as the young people I taught made the crucial and sometimes painful transition to adulthood, they knew unconsciously that they too had to undergo the “crise de coeur” that Carmen and Don José had to. From two different worlds — and cultures — these two tragic protagonists represent opposite poles of the human spectrum.

And yet, they shared passions that can destabilize the mind and the soul.

My choice of video was the stunning version with Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo.

The Habanera

The Chanson Bohème

The inevitable happens…

Everything you need to know about the opera Carmen

Bizet

Prosper Mérimée

Cultural journeys

For adolescents in many cultures, “growing up” can be very painful. This is especially true in multicultural Canada where many young people find themselves trapped in inter-cultural conflicts. Like Carmen and Don José, they can often find themselves conflicted about what social conventions or their ethnic backgrounds demand of them.

Such conflicts can be both inter-generational as well as intercultural.

For many young people that I have taught, making the transition from adolescence to to adulthood also involves metaphysical anguish. Young people can indeed indulge in melodrama, thinking that they are the only ones who feel as they do, but at what point does melodrama become drama?

As I have said before, “You can’t be just a little bit pregnant.”

A related story from the Philosophical Traveller…

Unconscious Travelling: More than Meets the Eye

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Recession Strategies for the Travel and Tourism Industry

There are many advantages to having the United States as a neighbour, on the other side of what used to be called “the world’s longest undefended border.” One of the advantages is somewhat like the childhood game of follow the leader. While pursuing our own national programs and policies, we always keep a close eye on how the largest economy on the continent copes with the latest global crisis — in this case the worldwide recession.

As Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada’s most famous former prime minister, said to the Washington Press Club in 1969, “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

And whether we Canadians adopt a “wait and see what the Americans will do” strategy, or whether we just get on with our own business as best we can, the continental and new global reality is that all our “affairs of state” are interconnected and interdependent, especially in the travel and tourism industry.

Because the United States is Canada’s biggest travel market, we Canadians, like any nation, strive to enhance our marketability vis à vis our biggest customer, while at the same time remaining proactive in developing new markets outside the North American continent, because in the era of globalization there is whole new economic model out there.

This is especially true for the travel and tourism industry in these very troubling global economic times.

A generic comparative study

Although I am comparing how Canada and the United States conduct their respective (and very reciprocal) travel businesses, there are many generic lessons in this case study. The lessons of history must not be forgotten, but at the same time, as the U.S. Travel Association has articulated, innovation and renewal are critical survival strategies. And herein I think lies a lesson for travel journalists because as the principal storytellers in the travel and tourism business, we work in a highly collaborative and synergistic mode with our destination partners — and with our fellow travel journalists .

This is also why the Canada-U.S. case study is significant. Although Canada is geographically more or less as large as the United States (9,629,091 km² for the U.S. and 9,984,670 km² for Canada); it is population size that is the critical economic factor in terms of what our two nations have to win — or lose.

The population of the United States is currently estimated at 303,824,640, whereas the population of Canada is only 33,212,696. And this is where the principle of economies of scale is important. In terms of inbound tourism revenues, the more “product” you have to offer and the greater resources you have to get that product to market, the lower your marketing costs will be, and the greater your (global) market share.

And whereas Canada has depended to a great extent on the American market for the bulk of its tourism revenues, for the first time the United States is having to make a concerted effort to look beyond its borders as well as reinvesting in its domestic markets.

No matter what the industry — and travel and tourism is still considered the largest industry on the planet — how any nation keeps that industry alive and flourishing depends on many factors. As we have seen, the global economic situation has resulted in a travel and tourism industry that has become even more interconnected and interdependent.

But changing demographics (Canada and the United States are both “aging” societies) play an important role as well. Travel trends reflect new realities. Sustainable tourism is becoming an increasing priority in nations that recognize that their natural resources are finite but also the main reason why travellers choose to travel there.

In addition other previously unforeseen factors such as the emergence of new technologies like the Internet play a role. The relatively new electronic virtual communities can go a long way to creating a more level playing field in this business; Boise, Idaho can now compete with Boston, Massachusetts for the tourism “dollar.”

Travel journalism is generally supposed to be above and beyond politics, however, whether we like it or not, history and politics have always played a role in the travel and tourism industry. Emerging nations who have achieved a laudable degree of self-sufficiency, are consequently in a much better position to develop very viable travel and tourism industry. They therefore become competitors to traditional markets. This new reality is not lost on the renewed U.S. Travel Association.

And when there is a new Administration in Washington — the U.S. Travel Association has referred to it as “The New Washington” — this national travel and tourism body sees the change in national government as both a new opportunity and a challenge.

Strategies and bold statements

Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, recently conducted a “transamerica” conference call of major players in the travel and tourism industry in the U.S. During his national appeal, he made some gloomy predictions, but at the same time he made some bold statements that certainly give food for thought to anyone in the travel and tourism industry anywhere in the world.

His overall theme was the same as that of Barack Obama — it’s all about change. But he also spoke clearly about the “real and perceived barriers to travel in today’s economic environment.” And as travel journalists, we are very much in the business of communicating realities while at the same time enhancing travellers’ perceptions of a destination through the mind’s eye. In this regard we strive to correct erroneous “impressions” about a destination and ultimately to eliminate attitudinal barriers to travel. We are therefore critical players in the growth of our global industry and it is incumbent on us to make governments and other national bodies fully aware of this fact.

Positioning and reorganization

By positioning or re-positioning itself in the nation’s capital of Washington D.C., the U.S. Travel Association has redoubled its efforts to make the travel and tourism industry a major player in the economy of the entire nation.

For example, Roger Dow points out that his association is making decision-makers in Washington aware that the travel industry provides 7.7 million jobs in the United States. A statement that I found especially significant was the following: “Washington simply plays too significant a role in the travel process and business of our industry for us to be anything short of aggressive, assertive and committed for the long-haul.” In short, the Association has re-positioned itself by “[firmly establishing] travel and our industry as Obama’s economic and diplomatic allies.”

The Association has also developed a vigorous strategy to encourage more business, meetings, and convention travel by educating Chief Executive Officers about the bottom-line value and positive return on investment of business travel. Also, the association has created an Economic Advisory Panel of prominent business scholars from around the U.S. who are studying and communicating to policymakers in governments at all levels, to the general public, and to the business world itself the competitive advantage of maintaining travel during difficult economic times. And one of its key modes of broadcasting this message is through the recently launched DiscoverAmerica.com, the official travel and tourism website of the United States.

Now a lot of nations have had official national websites for quite some time, but in the United States where states, cities, and regions have their own official websites (one has to understand American history and how this nation evolved to a great extent as a decentralized democracy in which regional differences deepened when the national government began expanding), creating a central virtual “port of entry” for travellers is a novelty for Americans.

There is also more evidence of a significant geopolitical shift as the U.S. Travel Association launches new efforts in what they refer to as “the potent markets of India, South Korea, and China.” And because the renewed marketing strategies emphasize both international and inland visitors, there is also a domestic version of the site. Working both sides of the travel marketplace, Americans are also encouraging their compatriots to travel more within their own country.

Above all the U.S. Travel Association is stating loud and clear that “We are a valuable resource and asset — not a collapsing industry in need of a bailout…”, and this is the universal principle and practice that we as travel journalists can also embrace.

Travel Matters: the fundamental message

There was a touch of the Wild West to the theme of the 4th Annual Travel Leadership Summit organized by the U.S. Travel Association from in which the rallying cry was “Stand Up for Travel!”

In the information and registration webpage for this national event, you will find this statement:

“The travel business is in a crisis. The recession is taking its toll, but the problem is much larger due to recent mis-characterizations by political leaders and the media about meetings and events travel. The industry has lost billions of dollars in cancellations, and communities across the United States have lost jobs…. The U.S. Travel Association is fighting back — turning the rhetoric around and focusing on the economic impact of travel…. Join hundreds of travel colleagues this fall in Washington to alert Congress about the recovery role that travel can play in our nation’s economy.”

I’m quite sure that, as usual, Canadians are watching what’s happening “south of the border,” feeling the twitch, and hearing the elephant grunt.

For more information on the new world of travel American-style, see the following:

Travel Green

The Power of Travel

See also…

The Impending Crisis in the Canadian Tourism Industry.

From the U.S. Travel Association website

(a) 1 out of every 8 jobs in the United States is linked to travel and tourism.

(b) In a recent survey, 87 percent of Americans say that encouraging people to travel recreationally within the U.S. could improve the country’s economy.

(c) Business travel accounts for $39 billion in tax revenue — federal, state, and local.

Tom Brokaw of NBC News Explains Canada to Americans

See this very popular YouTube video by clicking here.

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Travel and golf

Increasingly the travel industry has become one of the most diversified on the planet. Thanks in part to the whole new world of electronic communication, travel suppliers can now reach niche speciality markets, and consumers themselves are also much more in control of their travel “destinies”; defining and shaping the world of travel as they want it.

The golf travel market is one such specialty travel market that injects substantial sums of money into a local economy. In the United States alone, golfers spend in access of $26 billion a year on golf travel. Of the golfers who travel to enjoy the sport 43 per cent are over the age of 50; one of the most important demographics in the travel and tourism industry

Why are so many people so passionate about the “game” of golf? Why will they travel just to play golf? Metaphorically, golf is all about travel; all about reaching that ultimate “destination.”

Golfing by the Book

In this town’s outer orbit, life has begun anew. The land is green and for golfers, the hibernal hiatus in the game of life has ended.

I am, of course, stating the obvious when I say that golf is a metaphor for life. As a relatively recent convert to one of the more curious games people play, I think I can speak with some detachment and objectivity about the inherent meaning of golf. In my brief life on the links, the thought has occurred to me several times that golf may actually be a vestigial behavioural ritual left over from our hunter-gatherer days, with – despite a somewhat skewed timeline – a touch of the Age of Enlightenment thrown in for good measure.

Consider all the golfers on the planet, year after year, following what is essentially the same migratory route, completing the same timeless trek, with no turning back. In search of what? Sustenance and survival, that’s what. A way of life. The necessities of life, of which a glimpse of the ideal is paramount. Constantly chasing a vision, the golfer pursues the elusive but perfect swing, the consummate shot, the heart-stopping putt – a sense of the self and of the absolutely perfect day of golf. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the implications of the mystical hole-in-one, that rare event that really is a consequence of fate rather than skill.

Consider also the aesthetics and the psychological-philosophical impact of golf on the human psyche. Picture yourself on the tee of your favourite hole. You calmly and resolutely address the ball, you swing, rotate, connect. The ball lifts, soars, lands just where you envisioned it would. What a sustained and total feeling! What brilliance! What self-determination! What an existential moment!

And then there are the flubs, the struggles for control, the disillusionment in the self – and the loss of faith in the game itself. “Why do I put myself through this?” Because you have no choice. Once you’ve felt the club in your hand and even an approximation of that exquisite click when the clubface meets your dimpled friend squarely and absolutely, you can’t go home again until the day is done.

I know. I’ve been there. And I’ve taken the lessons, read the self-help manuals, watched the videos, confided in friends, and experienced the momentary thrill of oneness and the too oft-repeated descent into golfing chaos.

So this year, I’ve decided to play by the book, two books actually. And they are: Golf for Enlightenment, by Deepak Chopra and Life of Pi, by Yann Martel.

Another in a long list of books by Deepak Chopra, the pop guru of health and spirituality, Golf for Enlightenment is a user-friendly fable of an ordinary guy having a bad day at golf.

He is destined to meet Leela. (In the ancient scriptures of India, leela refers to the divine game of life that was “played” for the sheer joy of it.) Leela is the ultimate golf pro. She teaches him about the true mind-body connection in golf, and in seven mystifying lessons our hero learns that he and the ball are one. He learns to let the game play him, to play from the heart to the hole. He learns again how to live – especially on the links. He rises above intrusive emotion and hollow ego. He transcends the banal and bothersome in golf. He rediscovers his real self. He becomes a master of the game of golf.

This is my idea of New Age!

Life of Pi, the Man Booker award-winning novel by Canadian Yann Martel, is another fable about life in the wide open spaces, about meaning, and about survival.

Raised in Pondicherry, India where his father owns the local zoo, Pi Patel begins his true journey through life when the family leaves for Canada aboard a freighter on which a number of the zoo animals are also travelling to their various new homes. A storm, a shipwreck, and whimsical chance result in Pi drifting across the Pacific for 227 days in a lifeboat with, initially, the strangest foursome you can imagine: a zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan, and a magnificent Royal Bengal Tiger called Richard Parker. (Don’t ask; read the book.)

Eventually, this party of dissimilar species in dire circumstances is reduced to two, Pi and Richard Parker. Pi’s determination to survive is best expressed when he says, “I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day.” (Hands up those who watched the Masters this year.)

Making the miraculous routine is a touch easier said than done, but for a young lad alone with a tiger in the middle of the Pacific, Pi develops amazing survival strategies. Constantly struggling with the delicate balance of life in a literal ocean of possibilities, Pi profits from earlier lessons from a mentor who taught him “to take the pulse of the universe” and to respect both winning and losing as part of the same process. Pi’s most important survival technique is to suspend the usual predator-prey relationship and achieve integration and interdependence with the tiger who, in this reader’s opinion, is the embodiment of the ideals at the core of Pi’s psyche.

Like the game of golf, I daresay Richard Parker is a magnificent and formidable companion on this journey but one that will never be tamed – nor should he – because he is the essence of freedom. Golf, and all it entails, is the benefactor of life on the links, not the foe. Of course Life of Pi has a happy ending – of sorts – although Pi continues to have “nightmares tinged with love.”

Ambivalence, it seems, is also the name of the game.

Therefore, I have decided that these two books will serve as my point de départ and metaphysical guides throughout another golfing season. But, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not searching for epiphanies on the golf course, I will be happy just playing bogey golf consistently. I know that life (like golf) is not an event; it is a process. I would just like the process to be a little more … coherent … a little more consistent.

So I will start with the broad strokes.

From Deepak Chopra (the man is a humanist in every sense of the word) I have learned that golf is a game of collaboration as opposed to a life or death experience. In that sense it is a truly non-aggressive game; a game in which I must find oneness with the ball, my clubs, my surroundings, my self.

Supporting this key strategy is a lesson I have learned from tempest-tossed Pi; that like golf, life is … um … a life and death experience. You win some; you lose some. But you always win by respecting failure. Chopra says that respecting failure as well as success is the only way to become a master. Pi learned very quickly that he had to endure sacrifices (I will spare you the gory details) in order to provide for the tiger and thus for himself, because they were on the same journey – in the same boat so to speak. So I will laugh at the bad shot, overcome my frustration at my perceived ineptness by admiring someone else’s skill, step outside the complexities of the game, at the same time looking inward, thus diffusing any feelings of self-importance, and transcending my limitations. I will focus on the now, be in the moment (where “the whole” already exists), and permit my subconscious and muscle memory to play the game for me.

This shouldn’t be too difficult.

In terms of specifics, I have learned from Pi’s experience the role that imagination plays, in life as in golf. If I imagine – some would say visualize – what is really happening in my body and my mind, I will discover what I really need to do as opposed to what my vainglorious self is urging me to do. And in this way, the tiger and I will go a long way together in this symbiotic existence. Being in a timeless and out-of-time existence on the ocean (the mundane in life is equally distant on a golf course), Pi has lots of time to imagine, to dream, and to focus his mind. Essentially he applies the same plan of action that Chopra encourages us to follow: to stop, calm, rest, and then get on with it. It does require work of a sort, and of course a willingness to experience the hazards of life, but whether you are in the middle of the Pacific or en route to the next hole, the moment is now.

So now I’m ready to find my (golfing) self again as Chopra recommends. I will find my higher self, the one that child-like took up golf in the first place – because it’s fun. And I will learn the hard lessons of Pi, that whatever you do in the moment changes the whole future. Chopra would say, “Every swing happens a certain way because of the one that came before.” My life on a golf course – as it is in a lifeboat – is an accumulation of karma, the sum of my actions in previous states of existence, in previous games. Que sera, sera. I will do what I can but I will do it by enjoying the moment. Carpe divot.

Chopra says that golf is all about perception; it begins and ends with seeing the ball. “A clear and concentrated perception” sees and understands “the force of inevitability.” I’m not sure whether Pi was aware of this force adrift in his watery world, but by the end of the novel the reader is certainly aware of it – as is Pi, in hindsight. Hindsight of course is easy but also necessary.

A related quote that is still a favourite of mine is the Swahili saying “Wayfarer, keep looking back.” This is most appropriate and meaningful for the protagonists in both Golf for Enlightenment and Life of Pi, as it is for any golfer. Seeing the ball, the course, the game, the self with the kind of clarity that Chopra seems to have and that Pi gained is something I’m going to try harder at without falling into the trap of retrospective obsessionality. I’m not going to relive the bad times nor the good times in my memory, especially that game last fall when I just couldn’t seem to hit the ball straight no matter what I did. This year, I plan to apply the kind of mindfulness that golf is really all about. I’ll talk to the ball as Chopra recommends, as Pi did to Richard Parker, and I will strive to silence my chattering mind. I shall adopt the soft, laser-like gaze of a Tiger Woods or a Mike Weir, a sure sign of an inner state where the spirit of golf is exalted not confronted. And from time to time I will take Chopra’s advice and just play golf without keeping score. I’ll go for the big picture – not sweat the small stuff – I’ll eliminate all judgment.

Already I can imagine myself becoming a better golfer, letting my vision become my game, as I allow my inner person to be played by the game itself. I will be an enlightened golfer, immune to mental chaos, and like Pi, I will become part of the game’s wordless beauty and harmony.

You know, when you think about it, golf is really quite simple.

…

More on the Man Booker Prize and Life of Pi

One of the world’s most famous literary competitions, “The Booker” is The Masters of contemporary fiction. Canadian author Yann Martel’s surprising win in 2002 was the second time in recent history that Canadians have captured this important award. (Margaret Atwood won in 2000 for her novel The Blind Assassin. And how about that Mike Weir!) For more information on The Booker and Yann Martel go to The Man Booker Prize.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is a one-man spiritual industry. For information about his extensive list of books and the Chopra Institute at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad California, go to www.chopra.com.

See also…

“Finding the meaning of life at the end of an eight iron”

… in which Golf Pro Gil Anderson confirms that golf is indeed a philosophical sport.

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Travel book clubs

From time to time it has occurred to me that travel journalists are also contributors to a global, collective, and virtual book club whose members enjoy the real thing, or even enriched armchair travel.

Book clubs, of course, vary in their composition and rules of behaviour. Some are highly organized and formal entities at which a book is “presented,” and, one assumes, is recommended. Not being a book club member myself, I imagine that in such a group it would require considerable intellectual courage and the ability to do what professional literary reviewers do for a living – daunting to say the least.

What if they don’t like my book? And then, I imagine there are the kind of laid back book clubs of devoted and conscientious readers who just like to get together, loll about, gab, and let the literary times roll.

So why don’t we start a virtual book club devoted to travel writing? Who wants to organize it? Who wants to start? All right. All right. I’ll start.

The book I have chosen today is not recent; in fact it was published in 2002. But, this is a book that has really stood the test of time. It’s also one of my all-time favourite books because it takes a highly conceptual approach to travel.

The book is The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. It’s a book that explores in a very psychological and philosophical manner the very nature of travel as a distinct form of human behaviour.

Has anyone read it already? Well you should.

In the book de Botton has defined travel as an art form. There is a lot I could say about The Art of Travel – and I’m more than willing to answer any questions afterwards during our tea and cookies time – but basically it seems to me that you will like this book because de Botton asks some very fundamental questions, like why we travel; and how we can travel artfully and in an enlightened fashion.

But permit me if I digress for a moment…..

The Art of Travel also confirms what we have known for a very long time; that travel is the most experiential form of learning. It is also a multi-factored human behaviour that since the beginning of human civilization has been manifested in many ways and for many reasons. To Homo sapiens sapiens, travel has meant survival: a search for ideals; an escape from one reality to another; simple pleasure (some call it “fun”); a physical, psychological, and spiritual process – and much more.

It seems to me that travel has defined us as a species.

And then there are those who not only travel, but write about it. Now there’s a synergistic combination of behaviours if there ever was one.

The other “oldest” profession in the world

My reference is not totally tongue-in-cheek given how hard most of us – members of The Travel Writers Virtual Book Club – work at “getting there.” And part of our challenge, or dare I say even struggle, is to avoid selling out to the highest bidder and having to slavishly follow “writers’ guidelines” that do not always reflect changing realities – or qualitative considerations.

But let’s not forget that what we do as travel writers is as old as the hills.

Travel writing, travel journalism, or travel literature (a mosaic medium or stories on a continuum – take your choice) have always taken many forms. Travel writers are essentially storytellers, and this key function/role/tradition in the “tribe” goes back many centuries. The human stories, lessons inherent in them, and how they are told are as diverse as the tales themselves. And that is why travel and narrative skills are inextricably linked.

And given the advent of the electronic literary age when almost anyone who has been somewhere stimulating – which may be just around the corner by the way – can tell his or her story to the world, it is important to take a closer look at the multidimensional craft of travel writing, and indeed the nature of travel itself.

And this is what Alain de Botton does in The Art of Travel.

In the book he explores many of these issues; and what in essence he does is redefine the nature of travel – and our perceptions of it.

No stranger to travel, especially given that he comes from a Sephardic Jewish family that left what today is Spain in 1492 and settled in Egypt, de Botton seems to have inherited an innate sense of what it really means to travel.

I should warn you that The Art of Travel is not a travel guide, at least not in the traditional or conventional sense of the term. Like other iconoclastic travel “writers” (Jan Morris, Bruce Chatwin, Cleo Paskal, Paul Theroux … any others you want to mention?) de Botton transcends conceptual borders by emphasizing the philosophy, the psychology, and the hyper-sensory nature of travel, which, if the traveller allows herself or himself to make this transition, will also allow her or him to go much deeper into the destination. This book is a “travel guide” only in as much as it creates a new kind of literary resonance, making the mundane in the world of travel fresh and new.

Shift happens

Why would any sane person these days (especially a travel writer) spend time sitting in a parking lot at Heathrow watching planes take off.

Duh…

And yet, that is how the book begins. But even watching planes take off gives de Botton (and us) some initial insight. He explains it this way:

“There is psychological pleasure in this take off too, for the swiftness of the plane’s ascent is an exemplary symbol of transformation…. the display of power can inspire us to imagine analogous decisive shifts in our own lives, to imagine that we too might one day surge above much that now looms over us.”

The ritual of watching planes take off recalls (for those of us who remember or who actually flew on the early propeller-driven planes), was what we often used to do, and which I understand a lot of folks still do.

And this is where I would like to pick up on a key theme that de Botton doesn’t actually say outright, but it’s inherent in his thesis.

It is in the imagining of others travelling (arriving or departing) to and from what used to be, but are no more, far distant places, which is at the heart of his own initial travel experience in this book. And although expanding one’s mind through the medium of travel has become a cliché, de Botton manages to demonstrate that it (even the vicarious variety) is a personal growth and transformational experience.

Now I must admit that, as in all his books, he can tend to get a bit carried away with his wordplay, and become even a touch … um … obfuscating.

For example, I’m still trying to think through the following:

“A storyteller who provided us with such a profusion of details would rapidly grow maddening. Unfortunately, life itself often subscribes to this mode of storytelling, wearing us out with repetition, misleading emphases and inconsequential plot lines. It insists on showing us Bardak Electronics, the safety handle in the car, a stray dog, a Christmas card and a fly that lands first on the rim and then in the centre of the ashtray.

Which explains how the curious phenomenon whereby valuable elements may be easier to experience in art and in anticipation than in reality. The anticipatory and artistic imaginations omit and compress; they cut away the periods of boredom and direct our attention to critical moments, and thus, without either lying or embellishing, they lend to life a vividness and a coherence that it may lack in the distracting wooliness of the present.”

Wooliness?

Nonetheless, The Art of Travel, is like a refresher course in travel journalism; if you are sufficiently sensitized to where you are, whether the destination is some well-known travel destination or just a service station or a cheap motel, de Botton shows us how we can do what he likes doing. He calls it wordpainting. And boy does he love to wordpaint:

“Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than a moving plane, ship or train. There is an almost quaint correlation between what is in front of our eyes and the thoughts we are able to have in our heads: large thoughts requiring large views, new thoughts, new places. Introspective reflections which are liable to stall are helped along by the flow of the landscape.”

The Art of Travel is now available on Kindle.

Kindle?

What the hell is that?

Other recommended travel-related books by Alain de Botton

I also found his book The Architecture of Happiness very travel-integrated because so much of what we experience when we travel is the man-made physical setting.

“It is in dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value. Acquaintance with grief turns out to be one of the more unusual prerequisites of architectural appreciation. We might, quite aside from all other requirements, need to be a little sad before buildings can properly touch us.”

And his exploration of the role of literature in human society in his book How Proust Can Change Your Life has implications for travel especially given the growing niche market of literary travel.

“Sometimes in the afternoon sky a white moon would creep up like a little cloud, furtive, without display, suggesting an actress who does not have to ‘come on’ for a while, and so goes ‘in front’ in her ordinary clothes to watch the rest of the company for a moment, but keeps in the background, not wishing to attract attention to herself.” – Marcel Proust, from Remembrance of Things Past

Alain de Botton

(This article was first published in the newsletter of FIJET; The World Federation of Journalists and Travel Writers.)

♦

Varley

In his article, “Sense of place: Writers and artists explore how geography shapes their work,” Governor-General award-winning writer Nino Ricci, comments:

“… every place is like no other, particularities, when they are entered into fully enough, have a way of becoming universals, so to understand one place fully is a way of understanding all places…. [t]he job of making the particular universal is one that the arts do especially well…”

And at the Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery in the historic town of Unionville, Ontario, this quintessential Canadian sense of place is articulated in a local as well as universal framework.

The gallery is, in many ways, the home to the artwork of one of Canada’s most expressive painters, Frederick Horsman Varley — a member of The Group of Seven.

Another “regional” art gallery, the Abozzo Gallery (not too far away, in Oakville, Ontario), articulates the concept of a sense of place in another way:

“Canada is a country blessed, as the saying goes, with too much geography and too few people. Yet, despite the vastness of the place, we have never lacked for artists, poets and writers to appreciate it, and celebrate both its spectacular and subtle beauties. Landscape has always been the central subject of Canadian art, since before the Group of Seven’s bush-whacking ambitions propelled it to iconic status. But a landscape is more than just the physical facts of topography and environment that surround us. The idea of landscape inevitably incorporates our own presence in it, and the sense of identity that arises from our history, experiences and associations with a particular place. Eventually, the landscape inhabits us, and its accumulated stories and memories become part of our collective narrative. It is this kind of ongoing relationship that, over time, binds us to the landscape and gives us a sense of place.”

A community resource

The local art gallery is often the focal point and core of a community, and analogous to other vital social institutions such as education and health care. Often it is a microcosm of unique communities in which there is embedded a great deal of social history.

Such cultural industries are also good for business. See “Why Cultural Industries Are Good for Business”.

Art is especially “good for business” because  it celebrates an essential component of a community by going to the heart of the matter; defining its distinct heritage. Artistic expression can be found everywhere, if you know where to look. It is a reflection of distinct geographic landscapes; but is also at the core of the cultural anthropology and social history of any community.

The multidimensional art of Frederick Horsman Varley

I have often said that “landscape shapes culture.” And at the core of that psychological-cultural phenomenon lies the individual and collective unconscious. Without a doubt this is how Frederick Horsman Varley perceived, conceptualized, and felt the world around him.

But like so many visionaries, Varley’s art transcends time and space; especially his portraits in which clearly his interpretation of the human subject shows his ability to engage in intuitive “critical analysis.”

Like other members of The Group of Seven, Varley’s art interprets landscapes, as well as the human beings in them, through imagery and allegory. This heightened awareness also has metaphysical qualities as well as a spiritual dimension; and herein lies the true nature of art.

As many cultures around the world have demonstrated — especially indigenous peoples like the First Nations people of Canada — physical landscapes have intrinsic elements in them that are generic and infinite. As Auguste Rodin said, “Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.” The brain is the hardware; but the mind is the software.

The Portraits of Frederick Varley

Because of his association with The Group of Seven, Varley was often assumed to have been primarily a landscape artist.

However, as a portrait artist, Frederick Varley also explores unconscious elements in his subjects, which in turn he communicates to susceptible viewers. In a complex and subliminal manner, he reveals the inner thoughts and feelings of the subject — primarily through the body language implicit in the portraits.  In brief, he activates the affective/right brain of human consciousness.

Although each of his portraits expresses something unique about human beings, each also depicts the internal “landscape” of the mind.

His portraits also reflect the full humanity of the subject, and in my opinion, Varley has an astonishing ability to reveal the character of his subject through her or his eyes. And as the aphorism says, “The eyes are the mirror of the soul.”

Varley the war artist

However, for those who admire the work of Varley, they may not be aware of a dark side of his art.

It was Max Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook) who commissioned Varley as an “official war artist”. Beaverbrook was a Canadian newspaper baron, tycoon, and politician. What he saw in the paintings of Varley obviously had a profound effect on him.

And Frederick Varley saw “action” beginning in January 1918 when he accompanied Canadian troops from Amiens, France to Mons, Belgium. The effect of “the war to end all wars” also had a profound effect on him. He is quoted as saying, “We’d be healthier to forget [the war], and that we never can. We are forever tainted with its abortiveness and its cruel drama.”

Some art critics also see a subequent reflection of Varley’s war experience in the works that depict the harsh cruelty of nature in the Canadian wilderness.

In terms of what he experienced directly in the First World War, the painting “For What?” is probably the best known; a literal and allegorical view of the “war to end all wars.”

Varley the iconoclast

Frederick Varley, like many artists, also saw beyond the perceptual borders to which many of us are confined. In this respect he was an Iconoclast.

Being a breaker of icons, however, his life and relationships with others were complicated, in part because of his iconoclastic nature and the fact that, as an artist, early in his life he had transcended “borders” and the behavioural patterns that social institutions, rightly or wrongly, inculcate in our species.

Like many artists, the compulsion to express an indeterminate worldview was a constant challenge to Varley. His art often suggests the mystical; and has innate metaphysical qualities in it such as the painting Liberation below.

In terms of interpersonal relationships, this too could be a challenge for Varley.

His relationship with Vera Weatherbie Lamb, for example, a Vancouver artist who studied at the Vancouver School of Art and the Royal Academy in London, England was indeed complex; and that is probably an understatement.

Her portrait of Varley (see the above link) suggests a man constantly preoccupied with the concept and the ideals of art. This portrait obviously has considerable historical importance in terms of the artist Frederick Varley; but it also illustrates the intricacy of the artistic mind.

The arts community

There is no single entity called an arts community; it is instead an interconnected and interdependent relationship of artists, governments that support and foster art, and ordinary citizens.

And that is also why the local art gallery, like the Varley, is often the point of departure for discovering the diversity of a community and its heritage and social history.

Resources and other archival material about Frederick Varley

1. The Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery

2. The F.H Varley collection at the National Gallery of Canada

3. “Sense of place: writers and artists explore how geography shapes their work,” Canadian Geographic magazine

4. Frederick H. Varley: The Art History Archive

5. The National Film Board of Canada’s portrait of Frederick Varley, 1953

6. From the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: “A Visit to Frederick Varley”, 1965

7. This link from the Archive and Library of Canada, contains more information about Frederick Varley, including a letter written by the artist.

8. As an artist, Frederick Varley’s sense of place was intensified when he visited the High Arctic on R.M.S Nascopie, a celebrated and historic ship with close connections to the Hudson’s Bay Company. One can only imagine how his sensory awareness was heightened and deepened by this journey; especially given his childhood roots in the industrial city of Sheffield, England.

9. In the world of architecture, designing an art gallery is a specialty in itself. And this formidable task was awarded to the architect Jerome Markson. A “modernist,” Markson was faced with the challenge of creating an art gallery that blended successfully with the historic town of Unionville, which has preserved many of its 19th-century buildings.

10. When Varley, one of the founding members of the Group of Seven, immigrated to Canada he continued to experience the life of the quintessential “starving artist”; and like many of his contemporaries he found work in design firms. One of these was the firm Rous and Mann. As an article from the Toronto Public Library’s archives explains, “The Group of Seven style of painting captured the rhythm and mood of the nation’s landscape… Armed with canoes, boards and paints, they interpreted the chaotic mass of nature in a bold, modern approach that differed from the Academic convention… Group members strove both to express their love of nature and to develop nationwide support for the arts as a key to the country’s emerging cultural independence.”

A bookplate designed by Frederick Varley

A letter from Fred

8. The video clip “Becoming an Artist,” presented by Dr. Lilly Koltun, Director General of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, gives some wonderful additional information about Frederick Varley as a portraitist and his emphasis on the interpretive, expressionistic, and spiritual aspects of his portraits.

9. The Kathleen Gormley McKay Art Centre, also known as the Salem Eckardt House, was also the home of Frederick Varley for the last 12 years of his life. Located on Main Street Unionville, a few steps from the Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery, this Gothic Revival cottage was built between 1845 and 1851 by Andrew and Salem Eckardt. Designated as an Historic Place in Canada, the house is an important part of the social history of F.H. Varley.

F.H. Varley: Portraits Into the Light / Mise en lumière des portraits

The above book can be purchased from the Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery shop or from Amazon.ca.

The book, an obvious labour of love by Katerina Atanssova, a former curator of The Varley, gives full biographical details on Varley while exploring why he has become one of the most important painters in Canadian history. The book also contains some extraordinarily well-reproduced plates of Varley’s work. The book is also produced as a bilingual edition (English and French). For art lovers, and for those who may be relatively new to the works of Frederick Horsman Varley, the book is a prime resource.

From the Introduction to the book:

“Men like Varley are rarely simple. The more closely we scrutinize him, the less he resembles an ordinary person and the more we see a man composed of conflicting elements.”

This excellent booklet was produced for the inaugural exhibition of the Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery of Markham in 1997. A limited number of copies may still be available from the Gallery.

I am especially fond of Varley’s comment in the booklet:

“Art is not merely recording surface life—incidents, emotions. The Artist [sic] divines the causes beneath which create the outward result.”

This important document (of the inaugural exhibition of the new Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery of Markham) also contains an article by Robert Stacey, the exhibition’s curator at the time.

Stacey was one of the most talented and admired art historians in Canada. In his tribute to Stacey on his death in 2008, Robert Fulford (a Toronto author, journalist, broadcaster, and editor) quotes Dennis Reid, chief curator of the Art Gallery of Ontario praising Stacey’s “sense of art’s context”; calling him “a cultural geographer.”

According to Reid, “Stacey loved to write about places where artists found inspiration… He believed we should ignore broad schemes for nationhood and focus instead on regions that provided the seedbeds of culture: ‘We need to rediscover the power of place.’”

And the power of art and the sense of place inherent in The Varley Art Gallery is timeless.

The commemorative Canada Post Varley postage stamp

The images of the artwork included in this story

All images are courtesy of and copyright of © The Varley Art Gallery, Town of Markham .

In order, from top to bottom, they are the following:

• F.H. Varley Portraits Into the Light — Exhibition — Varley Art Gallery 2007
• F.H. Varley, Devil’s Leap, Oil on Board
• F.H. Varley, Tree (Ferdinand the Bull), c.1940, Oil on Panel
• F.H. Varley, Portrait of Kathy, Charcoal and Pencil on Paper
• F.H. Varley, Laughing Kathy, c.1952-53, Oil on Board
• F.H. Varley, Liberation, 1943, Oil on Canvas
• F.H. Varley, Arctic Scene, 1938, Oil on Panel
• F.H. Varley, Portrait of Alice Massey, c. 1924-25, Oil on Canvas
• F.H. Varley, View from Studio, Oil on Canvas

Additional images below

• The grave of Frederick Varley (McMichael Canadian Art Collection)
• The Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery of Markham (Bob Fisher)

The grave of Frederic Varley can be visited at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

The Frederick Horsman Varley Gallery of Markham

♦

Other arts stories from The Philosophical Traveller

“The Hands of Juan Quezada”

“Art Meets Innocence in Madrid”

“For the Love of Travel and the Arts”

“The Artistic Journey of Richard Boswell”

“Climate Change and the Art of Jeroen Bechtold”

“The Spatial Sense and Sensibility of Mexican Architect Ricardo Legorreta”

“The Commerce of Art — and Maastricht’s European Fine Art Fair”

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Including a podcast with Dani Saad …

To listen to this podcast, click on the link below.

Chatting with Dani Saad

A citizen of the world

Dani is young man who has already “been there and done that”; however, his journey has only just begun.

The son of a Canadian-Lebanese businessman and a Canadian mother, Dani is also, in many ways, bicultural and bilingual. Speaking both English and Arabic (and some French because his grandparents in Lebanon often use French to communicate with their grandson), Dani therefore has developed a comprehensive worldview and the ability to transcend many borders. Dani has also spent considerable time living in Lebanon and experiencing that distinct Middle Eastern culture

As a student of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, he has embarked on a course of study which, given his bicultural heritage, will allow him to expand his horizons even more.

Lebanon and Dani’s experiential knowledge

I have often said that travel is the most experiential form of learning; and this is certainly true in Dani’s case. His understanding of the political systems in Lebanon, especially his understanding of the complex nature of politics in Lebanon and the Middle East, prove the aphorism. Dani’s explanation in the podcast of how and why Hezbollah gained power in Lebanon — it is important to note that the Canadian government, and other Western governments, have classified it as a terrorist organization along with numerous other groups — is further proof of his ability to understand the multidimensional history of Lebanon.

Having travelled in Lebanon, a nation which he describes as quite beautiful and scenic — a concept that many in the West may find surprising — Dani has been able to appreciate first-hand its diverse culture and its multicultural society.

Like so many other countries in the Middle East, Lebanon can also suffer from a “fixed notion”. However, like other countries in the region, it has an active tourism industry and also hopes eventually to benefit from substantial tourism revenues from the global travel and tourism market. The latter, by the way, is considered by some to be the largest industry on the planet. However, currently Foreign Affairs and Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to Lebanon. In our chat, you will hear Dani comment on the implications of this travel advisory.

As the Discover Lebanon website explains, “Lebanon is probably one of the world’s most colorful destinations when it comes to tourist attractions. The country enjoys magnificent historical sites left behind by ancient civilizations like Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Mamlukes, Ottomans, Egyptians, Greeks, and other great empires.”

The Discover Lebanon website’s photo gallery also may surprise you.

Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University

Many people may not realize how comprehensive and multidisciplinary Political Science is. But what exactly is this vast field of study? The American Political Science Association describes it this way:

“Political science is the study of governments, public policies and political processes, systems, and political behavior.  Political science subfields include political theory, political philosophy, political ideology,  political economy, policy studies and analysis, comparative politics, international relations, and a host of related fields.  (For a good cross section of the areas of study, see the list of APSA Organized Sections.)  Political scientists use both humanistic and scientific perspectives and tools and a variety of methodological approaches to examine the process, systems, and political dynamics of all countries and regions of the world.”

And Laurier University explains it this way:

“Political science is the systematic study of power and authority, especially in the public realm. Political scientists work at the broad intersection of the social sciences and humanities, and at Laurier we treat the study of politics as an integral part of a liberal arts education. Members of our faculty teach and conduct research in all major areas of the discipline. Our department is home to the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy, and several of our faculty are active within the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo. In addition to offering strong undergraduate and graduate programs in political science (including a new MA specialization in Public Opinion and Electoral Studies), our department is active in Laurier’s honours degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and the interdisciplinary Masters program in International Public Policy.

Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s seventh prime minister and first francophone

Considered a true statesman, Laurier was also deemed a visionary who strove to bridge the gap between Canada’s “two solitudes” and to promote Canada as an international player on the world stage.

“As for you who stand today on the threshold of life, with a long horizon open before you for a long career of usefulness to your native land, if you will permit me, after a long life, I shall remind you that already many problems rise before you: problems of race division, problems of creed differences, problems of economic conflict, problems of national duty and national aspiration.

“Let me tell you that for the solution of these problems you have a safe guide, an unfailing light if you remember that faith is better than doubt and love is better than hate. Banish hate and doubt from your life. Let your souls be ever open to the promptings of faith and the gentle influence of brotherly love. Be adamant against the haughty, be gentle and kind to the weak. Let your aim and purpose, in good report or ill, in victory or defeat, be so to live, so to strive, so to serve as to do your part to raise even higher the standard of life and living…” — Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Travel journalists are often advised to stay far away from politics. But, as Dani and I discuss in the above podcast, politics is history; and unless you also “cover” the historical and political background of a destination, the story is not complete.

All journalists aim to remain neutral — as opposed to being objective,  humanly impossible given that we are sentient beings — but that too poses a huge challenge because we all carry some ethnocentric baggage with us.

Political Science is, as the term suggests, a science and all science is subject to change, revision, and renewal.

There is also, I believe, a new generation of young travellers who not only have the opportunity to”go there” but also — because of the ever expanding access to information by electronic means — are able, and very capable, of giving travellers a much broader perspective on human culture. This too, however, poses significant challenges for young people today because of the need to be media literate and to accurately evaluate and assess the source.

The global travel and tourism industry is one of the largest industries on the planet. Destinations are in competition with each other for tourism revenues and many of them therefore plan extensive marketing plans to attract travellers from all over the planet.

Travel can be enlightening and multidimensional. As new travel markets — like Lebanon — eventually emerge, we hope that peace, security, increased standards of living, and a global exchange of ideas will ensue.

To learn more about Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, click here.

Other “political” stories from The Philosophical Traveller

The Civil Rights Institute of Albany, Georgia: Footsteps to Freedom

The Parallel Cultures of News and Travel Journalism

China Then China Now

African-American Heritage Travel in “The Year of Obama”

Photos courtesy of Dani Saad

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Je me souviens

The mid-air jazz program on the China Airlines flight is playing “Is you is, or is you ain’t my baby?” There’s nothing like mind-bending time zones and distance to make one think… laterally. It occurs to me that this is an appropriate theme for exploring 400 years of Canadian-American-Québec history.

An incongruous, convoluted comparison perhaps, given the song is in an African-American dialect, but bear with me.

National and “domestic” relationships of all kinds are subject to such “Does he or doesn’t she…” quandaries and queries. And in Canada, English-speaking citizens of our officially bilingual nation have been wondering for almost 300 years whether Québec is a willing partner in the marriage of inconvenience that resulted from a 20-minute battle on the Plains of Abraham outside Québec City in 1759 when the tide of history in North America underwent a dramatic volte-face.

This is not of course the definitive summary of French-English relations in Canada, but if the possibility of Québec becoming one day a sovereign and separate nation interests you, may I offer just a soupçon of perspective.

Let’s start with the numbers.

Québec has always been concerned about being assimilated by la marée des anglophones (the tide of the English-speaking majority on this continent). Canada is just a tad over 33 million people, of which about seven million of those are francophone; six million in Québec and another million in other regions throughout the rest of Canada. In the province of Québec francophones make up about 80 per cent of the population. But it is important to juxtapose these numbers with the predominantly English-speaking “American” mega-culture to our south — a mere 300+ million!

Given that the Québécois inhabit the same land mass and are potentially as inundated by Americana as English-Canadians — and have no linguistic compatriots within easy shouting distance — is it any wonder that the (separatist, nationalist, sovereignist … your choice) Parti Québécois government of Québec of the last few decades enacted fierce language laws making French the ipso facto official language in that province?

By the way, the policy worked because the populace now must get their nuts and bolts from the quincaillerie as opposed to the hardware store. And even non French-speaking immigrants to La Belle Province have been required to go to French schools, and ultimately become French-speaking Québécois. So… voilà, the language is alive and well. (The outrage and lamentations in English Canada and Anglophone Québec have died down a bit, but the resentment lingers on in the coeurs and esprits of many.)

Of course if you are hoping to earn your Open University degree in La Science Politique Québécoise, you will need to do some heavy duty pondering of such philosophical questions as: When’s a state a state; or what’s a state within a state? Where’s the fine line between cultural, economic, and legal sovereignty? (Of those latter three criteria, I can assure you that the Québécois … um … the French-speaking ones, have already achieved at least two. And although things are pretty quiet on the separation front at the moment (nothing like a prosperous and educated middle class to throw a sop to Cerberus), there are those who are still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Oh, and please be aware that in a 1995 referendum in Québec, the “Yes Let’s Separate” side lost by only one percentage point. You should also probably be aware that Québec’s motto is Je me souviens. (I remember); a harmless-sounding “Let’s-all-remember-our-heritage” call to the faithful, but as the matador said, “Prends garde à vous!”

By the way, if this Canadian conundrum intrigues you, remind me to tell you about Newfoundland’s renewed sense of nationalism.

Travel resources

To visit the official Québec tourism site, click here.

To visit the official tourism site of Newfoundland and Labrador, click here.

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The scent of books

The minute you walk in the door you can smell the books.

It’s not an unpleasant odour, but there is definitely a vague mustiness in the air. The shop, at first glance, also seems haphazard and jumbled — even chaotic. But appearances (as they say) can be deceiving. Out of chaos can arise enlightenment.

And therein lies the essence of literature.

There is definitely a sense order to this small bookshop on the main street of the town in which I live; but it is not that of the conventional mind. This is a place in which the interdependence and interconnectedness of all things (as opposed to oppressive homogeneity) is clearly the rule and not the exception.

There is also an unconscious flow to the shop, as well as a variety of focal points. Although the window announces “used books” — gently used I would say — it is obvious to any bibliophile that these are not throwaways.

Au contraire mes chers!

And this shop is the antithesis of the big box bookstores found on the periphery of the town, which tend to be spacious, effective in a retail sense, and highly directional — for obvious commercial reasons. In themselves, they are lessons in media literacy. Such literary outlets, usually found in or adjacent to shopping malls, of course have their place as major retail outlets but their inherent economies of scale can hinder access to more idiosyncratic books — in unorthodox settings — and possibly even the ideas and concepts implicit in them.

And in this shop on Main Street, the senses are heightened even more because this is a shop that is tactile in so many other ways. The books invite you to pick them up, to take them down from the shelf, to gently re-arrange them.

These books are old friends.

À la recherche du temps perdu

Entering the shop is a Proustian moment; not unlike the gestalt feelings that Marcel Proust experienced when he dipped his madeleine in his tea.

And as Proust himself said, “A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.”

Or better yet, “Every reader finds himself. The writer’s work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself.”

And Proust’s madeleine evokes a similar kind of holistic sense for bibliophiles everywhere. These books are memory generators of many literary hues and shades of the past; but there is also in them a sense of something universal. Such books as these are moments out of time. They embody not only the love of reading but the freedom inherent in reading.

And Proust also hit the nail on the head when he said, “As long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think, free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost and science can never regress.”

No books are banned or burned in this shop.

A repository far from the madding crowd

As someone once said to me, “Books are our silent friends.”

But as our intimates, they also permit and encourage a kind of shared sense of privacy that in the 21st century is becoming more and more difficult to find.

And there are old friends here, especially Margaret Drabble, one of my favourites.

I also find other old friends and titles that I have not read; and I come home with three: Iris Murdoch’s The Black Prince; Peter Mayle’s Toujours Provence; and cranky Paul Theroux‘s Sunrise With Seamonsters.

Books as travel companions

As Alain de Boton, demonstrates, you should never be without a book when travelling. In his book The Art of Travel, he defines travel as an art form — in a literary sense especially.

The Art of Travel also confirms what we have known for a very long time; that travel is the most experiential form of learning. It is also a multi-factored human behaviour that, since the beginning of human civilization, has been manifested in many ways and for many reasons. To Homo sapiens sapiens, travel has meant survival: a search for ideals; an escape from one reality to another; simple pleasure (some call it “fun”); a physical, psychological, and spiritual process — and much more.

But good books are also a form of travel — armchair travel for sure.

Books as true social media

Why do books matter? Why they are living entities? Why they are the sum total of the human condition. But most of all, why do books create dialogue and social interaction?

In my view, the answer is obvious.

To see another independent bookstore’s view of the land of literature, click on the link below:

The Joy of Books

For the love of books

In the new interconnected literary world, there are many ways to share books with friends. My wife, for example, is part of what in essence is a virtual book club; although I suspect she and her university friends might not define it as such.

Bloggers can also now recommend and comment on their favourite “reads.”

I recently found one called For the Love of Books.

However, I have to add that the above particular “book blogger” also raises the issue of gender differences. Do book clubs, virtual or otherwise, also reveal anthropological realities? Women as nurturers? Men as hunters?

I am reminded of Stephen Leacock’s The Sinking of the Mariposa Belle, in which the women all gather in the salon, close up the shutters “as if they had never left home”; whereas “the guys” all gather in the grungiest part of the ship. Oh … and the Mayor comes aboard with a large box of sandwiches — which, according to Leacock you can hear clinking.

Having said that (with some trepidation), my latest book is David Brooks’ The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement; which explores evolutionary biology and neuroscience in great detail.

His analysis of parent-child relationships, for example, may cause you to revisit the perennial nature/nurture debate.

But I especially relate to his emphasis on the unconscious mind:

“The inner realm is illuminated by science, but it is not a dry, mechanistic place. It is an emotional and enchanted place. If the study of the conscious mind highlights the importance of reason and analysis, study of the unconscious mind highlights the importance of passions and perception.”

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The special season

During the winter in Québec, you learn how to appreciate a season that has its own special beauty and brilliance.

It is also a time of the year when you fully appreciate how the culture of Québec — from the time of the French régime in North America in the 17th century to the present — was shaped by people interacting successfully with the vigorous natural environment.

It is perhaps the season when the art of human bonding is most apparent.

Winter in Québec is not something to be feared, avoided, nor underestimated. Winter in Québec is glorious, spectacular, and a time of personal and collective triumph.

For the Québécois, winter is integral to a way of life that celebrates courage, the aesthetic of the land, and self-determination.

The Laurentians

Two of my favourites maxims are: “The only real change occurs in the village,” and “It takes a village to raise a child.”

The village at the heart of the Laurentians is both literal and metaphysical; real and conceptual. It is also the quintessence of the Québécois experience — especially during the winter.

In Québec’s famed Laurentians, that experience is also a feast for the senses

Songs of Winter

Winter in Québec is not just a season. For the Québécois, it is a grand ritual, an elaborate ceremony, and a state of mind. It is also the cultural internalization of almost 400 years of struggling with — and yet living in harmony with — the land. It is a source of a collective sense of self and a a significant element in the self-determination of this Canadian province which is distinct on so many levels.

Many of the artists of Québec imbue their work with a healthy respect for this formidable season. One of Québec’s best-loved chansonniers (poet-singer-troubadours … and often superstars) was Félix Leclerc. In his hymn to winter, Soirs d’Hiver, (Winter Evenings) he gives a glimpse of how winter has become part of the Québec psyche.

Les soirs d’hiver, ma mere chantait

Pour chasser le diable qui rit; C’est a mon tour d’en faire autant

Quand sur mon toit coule le vent.

(On winter evenings, my mother sang; to chase away the laughing devil; Now it is my turn to do the same/ Each time I hear the wind in the eves.)

The beauty of winter in Québec’s Laurentians is not only in the splendour of a natural environment that surpasses all expectations, but it is also in the interaction of the people who have not forgotten the communal values and skills that are their ways and means of physical and cultural survival.

The oft-repeated term joie de vivre is indeed integral to the Québec way of life; however, I always take that term one step further to l’art de vivre.

Québec’s Laurentian playground — especially in the winter — is about community, and the interdependence of human relationships. It is about survival and la belle énergie that is the heartbeat of the true human village.

A visit to the Laurentians is “a moveable feast.” Allow me to offer you a few appetizers.

Geology and time have been good to the Laurentians

The way in which landscape shapes culture is a recurring theme and lesson in the Laurentians. Moreover, despite our well-founded concerns about an over-crowded planet, we are fortunate now and again to discover (or re-discover) areas of peace and tranquillity — and spaciousness.

In the Laurentians — 22,000 square kilometres of natural beauty — you will discover a rugged landscape that, by its very nature, has preserved “the natural order of things.” And this includes a pace and quality of life that increasingly we see dissipating.

This is Le pays d’en haut. As is often the case, the term defies a suitable translation. It means something like “the land up there” or “the highlands” or “away and beyond.” But the experience of the Laurentians has always been a multi-levelled one; an experience of something much deeper conceptually and — dare I say it — spiritually.

The Laurentians contain 9000 lakes and rivers, three enormous and separate regions (the Laurentian Gateway region within easy access to Montréal; the Laurentian Heartland; and the Upper Laurentians), and an integrated network of towns and villages, each of which has its own particular flavour and idiosyncrasies. In my experience of visiting Québec for over 40 years, this ease of self-expression is very typical of the province, one of the most liberal and free-thinking “communities” in North America. And the rigorous but permissive landscape and topography of the Laurentians enhances this cultural trait.

These are very old mountains; part of the famous (Precambrian) Canadian Shield. These are not the soaring and grandiose mountains of the Canadian Rockies (upstarts really); these are ancient mountains that have endured the ancient and ceaseless grinding of glaciation, a monumental process that eventually created a rather subdued topographical relief. This is one of the oldest physical landscapes on the planet; and an environment that nurtures a free spirit embellished by wisdom.

These ancient rocks are the Earth unclad. Covered by a thin layer of soil, this is planetary bedrock that was the first to be permanently elevated above the sea. And the titanic geological forces that created this land, and its many small lake basins and rivers, also left behind a Boreal forest that is home to abundant flora and fauna.

The Auberge du Lac Morency: hospitality spoken here

As a guest at l’Auberge du Lac Morency, I became an instant happy camper. I immediately felt chez moi — as if I had refused to acquiesce to the maxim that “you can’t go home again.” You probably have experienced a similar holistic feeling of familiarity and ease somewhere in your travels.

The village-like comfort zone of the Auberge is quite typical of the Laurentians. With one notable exception, the Laurentians have succeeded in repelling the mega-corporate, mega-resort mentality. And the human scale amenities and aesthetic finesse of l’Auberge du lac Morency are in many ways what the Laurentians are all about.

Clustered around a small non-motorized lake less than an hour from Montréal, the Auberge is also a role model for the kind of full-service medium-sized resort that is able to combine a sense of being “away from the madding crowd” while at the same time combining a sense of privacy with a discreet sense of community. (The term for “resort” in French is villégiature; hence the theme of the village.)

For students of the hospitality industry, a work term at l’Auberge du lac Morency would be the most experiential learning they could have in order to learn the craft. My enthusiasm for the Auberge stems from its exquisite setting but also because of the people who live and work there.

Leading the team of dream makers at the Auberge is the affable Director François Péloquin; hôtelier par excellence, learned and well-trained sommelier, highly informed nature enthusiast, and general all-round good guy. I’m told they often refer to him as le coureur de bois.

François is a natural when it comes to the hospitality industry, and his happy, motivated, and adept staff reflect his dedication to the best practices of this industry. He is the kind of host who oversees everything with a eagle’s eye but also, as a team leader, he encourages his staff to accept ownership of their work. He is also a great conversationalist; English or French … your choice … but I’m not sure in which language he talks the fastest … we slipped back and forth between the two without my knowing it. However, he also has the hôtelier’s intuitive sense when to “let it be.”

There is much I could tell you about François, his staff, and the Auberge — his amazing wine cellar, the carefully orchestrated operations, the suitability of the property for group functions — but I will let you discover more from the website; or just by going there.

However, I must rhapsodize briefly about the cuisine and the brilliant chef Daniel Saint-Pierre. I have had the good fortune to dine well around the world (especially in France), but I can say without any hesitation that I have not dined better anywhere else. The artistry of Daniel is, as we say in French, sans pareil (without equal).

The virtuosity of l’Auberge du lac Morency is also characteristic of the lifestyle that is within easy reach in the Laurentians. During my stay, I was reminded of a promotional slogan from the Québec Tourism department a few years back: Hospitalité Spoken Here!

SynoviaSpa at L’Auberge

In the European tradition of health-enhancing spas in beautiful natural areas, l’Auberge has a superb spa operated by Pascal Groleau.

To visit the spa click here.

Saint-Sauveur: a blended community

Unbridled growth is not what the Laurentians are all about; smart growth is the only way to go in this vast natural area. Like so many “tourism” destinations, sustaining a viable local economy that also allows for the sustainable growth of natural resources is a challenge but also common sense. The principle of sustainability is at the heart of the Laurentian experience, whether it be a question of human resources or natural resources.

The town of Saint-Sauveur (within an easy hour’s drive from Montréal) is in the Laurentian Gateway Region. As is happening elsewhere in the world, it also has become an alternate “satellite city” close to but distinct from a larger metropolis; in this case Montréal. It is not a bedroom community to and from which people commute on a daily basis; but is increasingly becoming a lifestyle choice. As a result, it has developed into a thriving, multi-faceted municipality that has succeeded in creating a state-of-the-art business community while maintaining a small town ethos.

Saint-Sauveur has always been a very popular all-seasons vacation destination, especially for Montréalers, and as the closest ski destination to Montréal it is especially popular. If you want ease of access, variety, and laid-back skiing that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, head to Saint-Sauveur and it’s five mountains. By the way, the Ski à Mont-Sauveur experience also includes the most extensive night skiing in the Laurentians.

Located in the Piedmont Valley, Saint-Sauveur, as I discovered, is still very much a “village” in terms of human interaction and a no-nonsense approach to quality of life issues. Saint-Sauveur is also experiencing a carefully controlled boom time, especially with regards to it being an attractive corporate conference and convention centre. As one who has been on the organizing end of conferences, I can highly recommend the Manoir Saint-Sauveur, an elegant and very contemporary award-winning hotel with some of the best convention facilities I have seen — and within walking distance of la Rue Principale with it’s many shops, restaurants, and heritage buildings.

Saint-Sauveur has also become a major arts centre and destination. It is now known and respected worldwide for its Festival des Arts an international event that attracts world-class performing arts groups, orchestras, and especially dance. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in the summer of 2006 which showcased Jirí Kylían, considered one of the world’s leading choreographers. Saint-Sauveur is also a role model for communities who have discovered that the arts are an industry that, in partnership with the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries, has a direct impact on the community’s bottom line.

I was having lunch in the Manoir’s aptly named restaurant L’Ambiance — a gourmand buffet actually — with Pierre Urqhuart, President of the Chamber of Commerce. (By the way, in Québec it’s not unusual to encounter names that reflect the French, Scottish, and Irish immigration patterns to Québec.) We were chatting about all that Saint-Sauveur has to offer when Pierre casually mentioned that after lunch he was attending the retirement reception of Soeur Élisabeth, a nun who appears to have taught just about everyone in Saint-Sauveur to sing. Along with being the most sports-oriented of all Canadians (remember that terrain) the Québécois are also the most musical. They love to sing, and to teach others to do the same; hence Sister Élisabeth’s long career. So I asked Pierre if I could come along.

The réception was actually a Christmas recital in the church on Main Street, a solid granite church built in the very distinct style of small town churches you see throughout Québec. For this occasion, it was full of multiple generations of locals, all of whom it seemed had been voice-trained by the diminutive Soeur Élisabeth. The good sister, by the way, is five feet in her stocking feet at most, but also the the kind of choir mistress one would pay strict attention to. Sister Élisabeth and her other sister nuns occupied the front pew and with great delight watched and listened to the youngest members of the parish celebrate the accomplishments of this nun d’un certain âge.

Val David: creativity and fire in the Laurentian belly

Regions of great natural beauty are often magnets for artists; and this is true of the Laurentians, especially the village of Val-David.

This is a community that gently proclaims itself to be un monde à part et à partager (a world away and one to be shared). This ethos is very much at the heart of the village, as it is in many other such communities throughout the Laurentians. But in Val-David, they have really taken the belief system to heart and practise what they preach with a quiet determination and respect for what the mayor referred to as “a marriage between the arts and nature.”

Val-David in some ways suggests a Québécois archetype, the rural community that was of necessity a world unto itself because of its geographic situation. It is a community whose history clearly shows the interdependence that developed among its members and how the integration with the stunning natural world around it became the antidote for any feeling of isolation. This, I believe, is what led to a collective vision that is very much supported and promoted by the elected municipal officials who are as engagé in the arts as the many artists and artisans who have migrated to Val-David. Here too the arts “industry” is the economic foundation of the community as well as a natural “product” of the landscape.

It should come as no surprise therefore, that such a community would also have a long tradition of story-telling, of oral history, and of personal and communal archives. Val-David’s collective vocation is to preserve the fundamental principles and values that made this town 76 kilometres north of Montréal a world apart. And perhaps the most important of those basic values is the generosity of spirit — the openness to diverse worldviews — that is communicated almost subliminally to the visitor to Val-David.

The art of land management

The town of Val-David has become an arts mecca and, in some senses, a refuge. Embraced and nurtured by the environment in which it lies — a valley of over 40 square kilometres, old mountains with their gently rounded summits, an intricate network of small lakes, rivers, streams, and regenerative forests — this is a stupendous and nurturing physical landscape but not one that overwhelms the senses. These are not young, soaring mountains and impenetrable forests. This land has aged well; it has achieved the respected status afforded eldership. Like most of the Laurentians, you feel comforted by this terrain. This is why I am hypothesizing that artists find Val-David particularly supportive and liberating.

The people of Val-David take their nature seriously, protect it, and interact with it in a similar way to that of aboriginal people who do not let the passage of time separate them from the spirits of their ancestors. This commitment to the land is especially evident in the Regional Park Dufresne, an extensive tract of land set aside for public enjoyment, and especially attractive to hikers and cross-country skiers. This is a public area however, where a very clear environmental ethic is practised and encouraged.

From an arts perspective, Val-David may surprise you. In a subtly renovated heritage building on the main street, I found an art gallery with dark, rich wood floors and white walls on which were displayed in a current exhibit of contemporary paintings that celebrated childhood; a very apt marriage of young and old.

In the summer Val-David hosts one of the most important pottery, glass, and ceramics exhibitions on the continent; the Mille et un Pots (A Thousand and One Pots). The event, which is the largest in North America is hosted by the Japanese-born ceramist Kinya Ishikawa. But it is also a huge family affair within this particular part of the art world. As a fan of ceramics especially, I was delighted to see some very original and contemporary pieces that demonstrate why this is a unique art form. I was also privileged to visit a pottery-ceramics class for young people with learning disabilities for whom this very tactile art form is an alternative way for them to communicate lives.

Why the Laurentians are an enduring experience

This prodigious land and its physical and cultural landscape are in many ways a microcosm for the heritage of the Québécois.

The language and culture of Québec continue to flourish against formidable odds; they have survived what has been referred to as la marée de la culture anglophone dans l’Amérique du nord (the tide of English-speaking culture in North America).

Québec has a total population of just over seven and a half million people of which 82 per cent are francophone — whereas the primarily English-speaking culture of Canada and the United States combined comprises about 145 million people.

Through persistence and a strong collective sense of self, this predominantly French-speaking part of North America is very much alive. And at the heart of the magnificent and vigorous Laurentians you will experience the self-sustaining values of the human village — Québécois-style.

Mea Culpa… but call me Mr. Cool

As is the case with any major tourist destination, there are increasingly “issues” that can create culture clashes. Québec is the traditional home to the snowmobile (invented by the famous Bombardier company). Given the terrain, climate, and vast distances of the Laurentides, it’s quite understandable why “skidoos” and all-terrain vehicles became popular here.

However, the movement towards a Laurentians that is non-moteurisé is picking up speed (pardon the play on words) and there are communities in the region that have passed such bylaws. It is a dilemma, especially for me who prefers a nice quiet canter on my horse, but also is not opposed to thrills and chills.

But I have to be honest and tell you that I did the ATV thing — and it was a blast, even though it meant some initial personal humiliation. Oh, and I plan to atone for the greenhouse gases I created somehow.

See: My great Laurentian ATV experience.

Laurentian resources

The Laurentian Tourism Association; info-tourisme@laurentides.com; Toll free number: (Canada and the U.S.) 1-800-561-6673

L’Auberge du lac Morency (Resort, Spa, and Conference Centre)

La Vallée de Saint-Sauveur Tourism

Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur

Ski Mont-Sauveur

Manoir Saint-Sauveur Resort and Convention Centre

Val-David

Le Centre d’Exposition de Val-David

The Dufresne Regional Park

Images of the Laurentians

And if you wish to practise your French …

Read the history and heritage of the town of Val David, one of the best example of the theme belle énergie. To access this information, click here.

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More about Québec from The Philosophical Traveller

Wandering at Will in Québec’s Eastern Townships

Montréal: Francophone Festival City and Paris of North America

Québec City: Cradle of the French Régime in North America

Hôtel-boutique, Québec Chic: How two small Québec hotels embody the culture of hospitality

Talking Travel’s Great Northern Adventure at the Québec Winter Carnival