„Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road” wrote Jack Kerouac in his book ‘On the road’.
For him, being on the road was a change, a pursuit, a search. For me being one the road – figuratively and literally, is the most important aspect of traveling. When I move from point A to point B, as a silent observer of landscape passing by the car window, the time seems to stop. You can’t accelerate or slow down, the time runs exactly the way it wants at the moment. And the man has no choice but to adapt to this tempo. At the same time, this is not effective, the moment is frozen and nothing can be done to change the reality outside the window. It is just as it is. There is only here and now and even if you really want, you must be patient and wait to reach the destination. It’s like a little unwanted gift from life, which is normally running like a madman, and there is no time for anything. And here you get in the car and you have so much free time, whether you like it at the moment or not. You stay alone with yourself and your thoughts. You don’t have to stop the questions and answers that come to your mind. You don’t need to keep them for better and later. This is precisely ‘being on the road’ for me.
There is no signal, no radio, the discussion will eventually burn out. And you’re just a dot that moves forward. There are places on earth that seem to be specially created for being on the road. The landscape is endless, wherever you look, there is no border, nothing stops your eyes or thoughts. There is a space that gives you a sense of freedom, no attachment to anything and anyone. At the same time it’s terrifying and overwhelming that you can’t control it. There is also the silence. But not the usual one. It’s the total silence, which forces you to say something to yourself just to make sure that you can still hear. There is no wind, no grass murmur, not even a fly that irritates you. That must be a sense of lonliness, shocking for the man of 21st century who almost never has the luxury of being alone. He does not know that it is possible, he does not know what emotions it causes and how to deal with them. Everything is new and you have to set your rules right from the begining. This is the chance to reevaluate all of your schemes and priorities.
Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.
This post is different, because the place is not like any other in the world. Patagonia. A land stretched between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by snow-covered Andes, ended with the Land of Fire. South part of Argentina, for many, almost the end of the world. This is the last stop before the endlessly white, icy emptiness. For me, this is the place where it all starts. The synonym of being on the road and the quintessence of searching.
See Patagonia through my eyes and my senses.
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