Travel, So I Can Heal

2017-1-27 至 2017-2-1

"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail"

by Cheryl Strayed

 

The content of the book is very well explained by its title. Her mother died of cancer at the age of49. She was heartbroken; her family fell apart without her mother. She divorced her husband who she was married to since 19 years old. Right after the divorce, she decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT in short) at the age of 26. Camping in the wilderness, confronting the darkness and the loneliness, overcoming obstacles, thinking of giving up, meeting hikers on the trail,questioning herself, enjoying the view at times. Of course, she finishes her hike, which took her three months, and now lives inPortland, Oregon.

It's a true story of hers. And the emotions and thoughts she had during the hike were easy to relate to. Maybe it's difficult to understand why she has to spend three month in the wilderness, why she has to hike to find herself again. However, for someone who has traveled for long periods of time, I understood the urge. The physical labor that you have to put up with, the shortage of water in summer days in the middle of a desert, the danger to be out there all alone or at the mercy of some stranger whose intention you have no way to find out ahead of time, you have almost no choice but to trust the person is not going to harm you. It's dangerous, regardless your gender. It brings out some part of you that you didn't know exited, you'll be surprised by your own brilliantness or stupidity. When you hike like she did, you have plenty of time to think and to confront your issues.

This book certainly brought back the memories of my own travelling days. I hiked a little, but mostly hitchhiked, from Gansu to Qinghai, to Gansu again, to Sichuan, to Tibet and then to Yunnan. I was on the road for 3.5 months. I loved it. I hated the fact that I had to comeback. I wanted to be a nomad. I learnt that you don't run away from your issues, no matter where you go they'll be there and stare right at you. I also learnt thatI was resourceful, that I could be calm when there's an emergency; I also learnt that I am reckless. But my favorite take-away from my experience was that if you really want to do something, do it. "Not having a choice"to fulfil your dreams is not a reason, it's an excuse, it's that you don't want it bad enough.

“Travel to heal”works, I guess.


At last, here's a passage that hit home for me.
It reminds me of the character in "Westworld", Delores says, "I imagined a story where i didn't have to be the damsel."