From the latest NatGeo newsletter, by George Stone.
Travel is the art of translation. It’s about crossing boundaries and carrying meanings. When I discovered the word “solastalgia” – which describes the loss of something beloved due to environmental change, my ears perked up. Ironically enough, in these housebound times, I have the feeling we have all grown a bit homesick. But what have we lost? As a community of travelers, we’ve lost our license to move about freely. It’s no small thing; not only can we not trek to Peru, but in many cases we cannot even leave our homes. If we do leave, then returning home can become an odyssey of its own.
George Stone, NatGeo
And so here is the thing. Being an introverted, and a person who is not super excited by social activities, I was expecting to support this situation easily. But I’m not and I’m seriously struggling. Because I’m a traveller. And because I’ve lost my license to move about freely.