PAGEPAGE6TEXTAThesurprisingpurposeoftravel令人驚奇的旅行目的It's4:15inthemorning,andmyalarmclockhasjuststolenawayalovelydream.IalmostreturnbacktosleepbeforemyeyecatchesmypackedsuitcaseandIgroan,rememberingthatI'mgoingtotheairport.Thetaxiislateandthenlost,andI'mgettingincreasinglynervousthatI'llmissmyflight.Iruninwhenwearrive,staggerthroughsecurityandfinallygettomygate.Afterallthetroubleofthismorning,myflightiscanceledandI'mstuckinthisterminalforthenext218minutes,andmyonlyconsolationisacupofcomplimentaryairportcoffee.Thisistraveling,aburdensomeseriesofrunningandwaiting,andaftercountlesshours,finallygettingthere.218Whydowetravel?Idon'tmindtheactualflying,thewonderofbeingairborneinadensemetalbird.Therestofthejourney,however,canfeellikeatediouslessonintheillsofmodernity,fromthepredawnx-rayscreeningtothesadairportmallssellingclustersofkeepsakes.It'stheresultofaglobalizedworld,anditsucks.X商場(chǎng)，感覺(jué)就像是關(guān)于現(xiàn)代社會(huì)弊病的乏味課程。這是全球化的結(jié)果，它糟糕透了。Sometimes,ofcourse,wetravelbecauseweneedto.Becauseinthisdigitalage,thereisstillsomethingimportantaboutthehandshakeatabusinessluncheon.Oreatingmom'sspecialfoodonThanksgiving.Orseeingyourgirlfriendonyouranniversary.別準(zhǔn)備的食物，或是在你和你女朋友的兩周年紀(jì)念日這天去看她。Butmosttravelisdecidedlyoptional.Onlycorporatetravel,about30%oftripsover50miles,istrulycompulsory.Instead,wetravelbecausewewantto,becausetheannoyancesoftheairportareoffsetbythethrillofbeingsomeplacenew.Becauseworkisstressfulandourbloodpressureistoohighandweneedavacationsomewheretropical.Becausehomeisboring.Becausetheflightsareonsale.BecauseParisisParis.但是大多數(shù)旅行是可去可不去的，在超過(guò)5030%屬于真正必需的商務(wù)太無(wú)聊；因?yàn)楹桨喽荚诖蛘郏灰驗(yàn)榘屠璁吘故前屠?。Thankstomodernaviation,wecannowmovethroughspaceataninhumanspeed.Forthefirsttimeinhumanhistory,wecanoutrunthesunandmovefromonehemispheretoanotherinasingleday.Ofcourse,it'snotenoughtosimplygetonaplane.Ifwewanttorealizethecreativebenefitsoftravel,thenwehavetore-thinkitsoverallpurpose.Mostpeople,afterall,escapetoParissotheydon'thavetothinkaboutthosetroublestheyleftbehind.Buthere'stheirony:OurmindismostlikelytosolveourmoststubbornproblemswhilewearesittinginluxuryinaLeftBankcafé.So,insteadofcontemplatingthatbutterydessert,weshouldbeconsciousofthosedomesticissueswejustcan'tsolve.——,我們應(yīng)該考慮那些在家里解決不了的問(wèn)題，而不是琢磨那些奶油甜點(diǎn)。Thelargerlesson,though,isthatourthoughtsaresaturatedwiththefamiliar.Thebrainisaspaceofnearinfinitepossibility,whichmeansthatitspendsalotoftimeandenergychoosingwhatnottonotice.Asaresult,creativityistradedawayforefficiency;wethinkinfinite,literalprose,notsymbolicverse.Abitofdistance,however,helpsloosenthecognitivechainsthatimprisonus,makingiteasiertominglethenewwiththeold;themundaneisgraspedfromaslightlymoreabstractperspective.Accordingtoresearch,theexperienceofanexoticcultureendowsuswithavaluableopen-mindedness,makingiteasiertorealizethatevenatrivialthingcanhavemultiplemeanings.Considertheactofleavingfoodontheplate:InChina,thisisoftenseenasacompliment,asignalthatthehosthasprovidedenoughtoeat.ButinAmericathesameactisasubtleinsult,anindicationthatthefoodwasn'tgoodenoughtofinish.但更應(yīng)該知道的是我們的思想被熟悉的東西所充滿(mǎn),我們犧牲創(chuàng)造力來(lái)?yè)Q取效率。Suchmulticulturalcontrastsmeanthatseasonedtravelersareopentoambiguity,willingtorealizethattherearedecidedlydifferent(andequallyvalid)waysofinterpretingtheworld.This,inturn,allowsthemtoexpandthecircumferenceoftheir"cognitiveinputs"astheyrefusetosettlefortheirfirstanswersandinitialguesses.這個(gè)世界可以有截然不同（但卻同樣有效）“認(rèn)知輸入的范圍，因?yàn)樗麄兙芙^僅僅滿(mǎn)足于他們的最初答案和先前的猜測(cè)。Ofcourse,thismentalflexibilitydoesn'tcomefrommeredistance,asimplechangeinlatitudeandlongitude.Instead,thisrenaissanceofcreativityappearstobeasideeffectofdifference:Weneedtochangecultures,toexperiencethedisorientingdiversityofhumantraditions.Thesamefacetsofforeigntravelthataresoconfusing(DoItipthewaiter?Whereisthistraintakingme?)turnouttohavealastingimpact,makingusmorecreativebecausewe'relessinsular.We'reremindedofallthatwedon'tknow,whichisnearlyeverything;we'resurprisedbytheconstantstreamofsurprises.Eveninthisglobalizedage,wecanstillbeamazedatalltheearthlythingsthatweren'tincludedintheLet'sGoguidebookandthatcertainlydon'texistbackhome.:（如我該給服務(wù)生小費(fèi)嗎？火,因?yàn)槲覀儾辉倌敲匆暺匠５臇|西感到驚奇，而這些東西在自己家中也不存在。So,let'snotpretendthattraveldoesn'thaveitsdrawbacks,orthatweendurejetlagforpleasure.Wedon'tspend10hourslostintheLouvrebecausewelikeit,andtheviewfromthetopofMachuPicchuprobablydoesn'tmakeupforthetroubleoflostluggage.(Moreoftenthannot,Ineedavacationaftermyvacation.)Wetravelbecauseweneedto,becausedistanceanddifferencearethesecretcornerstonesofcreativity.Whenwegethome,homeisstillthesame.Butsomethinginourmindhasbeenchanged,andthatchangeseverything.）TEXTBTravelingsolo—Ablessingoverall!獨(dú)自旅行——總體來(lái)說(shuō)是好事Soyou'rereadytotravel.Pickaplace,anyplace.Let'ssayyou'vealwayswantedtogotoChina.You'veseenpicturesoftheGreatWall,theForbiddenCity,Tian'anmenSquare.You'vealwaysbeenfascinatedwithChineseaestheticsandculture,withred,fragranttemplesandvenerablestatues.Youhaveachunkofmoneysavedandextravacationtimeearned.Nowisthetimetogo!城、紫禁城、天安門(mén)廣場(chǎng)的照片。你一直被中國(guó)的美學(xué)藝術(shù)和文化所深深吸引，那里有香煙繚繞的紅色寺廟，有莊嚴(yán)的塑像。你早就省下了一筆錢(qián)，擠出了點(diǎn)時(shí)間，現(xiàn)在，該出發(fā)了！Butmaybeyouhaven'ttraveledmuch.You'veneverbeentoanexoticplacewhereyoucan'tspeakthelanguageorreadthesigns.Aplacewhereyou'llhavetodoalltheresearchforyourself,findhotels,getyourselfaround,buylocomotiveorbustickets,orderyourownfood.Youmustfigureallofthisoutwhilelookingattheunfamiliarnotationwhichyouseewhereveryoulookorgo.但也許你以前旅行不多。你從來(lái)沒(méi)去過(guò)異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)，你不會(huì)講當(dāng)?shù)卣Z(yǔ)言，也看不懂任何標(biāo)志。在這里，你得親自研究所有的事情，自己找旅店，自己到處逛，自己買(mǎi)火車(chē)票或汽車(chē)票，自己點(diǎn)餐。所有這一切，無(wú)論你身處何處，你都得盯著那些不熟悉的符號(hào)自己搞定。Sonowyou'rereadytorealizeyourdreamtoexploreChina,andfind,foryourself,thesoulofthecountry.Unfortunately,rightfromtheonset,noneofyourfriendssharethatdream.Yoursisterispregnantandcan'ttravel.Yourbestfriendjustgotanewjobandcan'ttaketimeoff.Sowhatdoyoudo?Youcouldaskeveryoneyouknow—friends,acquaintances,co-workers.Youcouldjoinatour.Or,youcouldgoalone.——Totravelaloneisadifficultdecisionforanyone,thoughespeciallyforwomen.Forme,itcamenaturally.ImadethattriptoChina,andthenzigzaggedonamultinationalexcursionthroughIndonesia,Thailand,EnglandandFrance.了一次多國(guó)之旅。ButthereactionsI'vegotten,frompeopleIknow,fellowtravelers,andespecially,fromthenativesofthecountriesI'vevisited,showedmethatsolotravelingisstrange,andevenconsideredinconceivableorrecklessbymanypeople.PeopleaskmeiftheisolationmakesmesadorevenifI'mmoresusceptibletoviolentordangeroussituations.Thishasbeensometimesablessing,sometimesacurse.IremembersearchingdesperatelyforaccommodationsinTaiwan,China.Theuniversitylistedinmybookletnolongerhaddormitoriesfortravelers,andIwasluckywhenthedeskclerkcalledayoungwomanoutofanearbyoffice.Asitturnedout,shewasofferingtoletmestayatherflatandevenhadafriendcomeshowmearoundthenextday.AlsoinTaiwan,Imettwogirlswhosmuggledmeintotheirhotelroom,gavemeoneofthebeds(theysharedtheother),andtookmetoafeastwiththeirtourgroup.Whentheyheardmynextstopwastheirhometown,theyarrangedforabilingualfriendtopickmeupatthetrainstation.（她們倆擠另一張床她們的家鄉(xiāng)時(shí)，又安排了一個(gè)會(huì)說(shuō)兩種語(yǔ)言的朋友到火車(chē)站接我。Buttherehasalsobeenthedownsideofthosenot-so-pleasantexperiences.InIndonesia,acuteboygavemearideonhismotorbike,andthoughtthatgavehimlicensetogropemeillicitly.ManytimesinIndonesia,boysmenacedme,assumingIwaswillingtopayfortheircompany.InJapan,IwaspickedupbyayoungmanwhorefusedtodropmeatmyYouthHostel;heinsistedIstaywithhisfriends.Thefriendsturnedouttobefourgirls;Iwassafe,butonesnoredlikealawnmower,andittookmetwodaystoescape.I'vebeenirritatedandperplexedmanytimes—notspeakingalanguage,notunderstandingorbeingunderstood.Once,inItaly,ahotelclerktriedtooverchargemeandonlygaveupafter10minutesofarguing.AnothertimeinChina,ataxidriverinsistedIpaymore,andIwasrescuedbythedoormanofafancyhotel.Havingacompanionmighthavehelpedsafeguardmefromsomeofthoseproblems.Butitwouldhavesuppressedotheropportunities—alongafternooninThailandallaloneinthebackofahaywagonandthensevendaysinthebackofatruckwithaBrit,twoAussiesandtwoNorwegians!EatingethnicfoodonmywaythrougheasternSouthKoreawithfouryouthfulJapanesesalarymen.GettingsickinChina,andbeingnursedwithchocolatebarsandtissuesbyacouplefromTexas.給我吃巧克力棒，遞紙巾。ThefewtimesIhavetraveledwithacompanion,Ihaven'thadthesameampleopportunitiestomeetpeople.Othertravelerscanswapstorieswithyouaboutthelocalfolkloreoftheplacesthey'vebeentoandoftenhavecredibleinsightsintotheplaceyou'revisiting.Localsarealsomorelikelytoseeyouasapproachableandbeupfrontwithyouwhenyou'reonyourown.獨(dú)自一人旅行時(shí)，當(dāng)?shù)厝艘矔?huì)覺(jué)得你更容易接近，從而愿意和你坦誠(chéng)相對(duì)