Many of us have things that come to mind when someone mentions Africa. Lions, elephants, zebra, giraffe; all participating in the circle of savannah life. Wide open plains stretching out to distant hills flecked with trees. Or perhaps even the bustling chaos of Johannesburg or Nairobi. What most people don’t picture, however, is Namibia. It wasn’t long ago that most people didn’t even know where “Nambia” was; let alone considered travelling there. My biggest reflection on returning from this spectacular country - aside from the beauty and diversity of its landscapes, flora and fauna - is genuine dismay at why Namibia isn’t the #1 most-travelled-to destination in Africa. The landscapes are increasingly well-known, and speak for themselves. Everything here is vast in a way that evokes awe. The plains stretch on forever, careering into the endless sky whos innumerable stars mirror the countless small plants that make their home in the desert ground. Atlantic swells extend their foamy frontiers to the feet of towering hills of sand that glow in the sunrise - a band of bright orange set between the striking blues of sea and sky. The diversity of Namibia is staggering. One minute you’re the only humans in sight in the midst of the desert; the next you’re in a coastal town that would be totally at home in Southern California. The rolling green of petrified sand dunes transitions sharply to featureless desert in the blink of an eye, before morphing again through scrubby savannah into lush green before reaching the tropical forests and wetlands of Caprivi. In contrast to the landscapes, the safari is perennially under-rated. Both the frequency and diversity of game around Etosha National Park rivals what you’d get in Kruger or the Masai Mara. In our 2 brief days there, I counted over 20 species of animals in the quiet of Ongava Reserve. In the background to all of this - unnoticed until pointed out - is just how clean, safe and stable Namibia is. Streets, especially in areas like Swakopmund, are exceptionally clean and well-maintained. Crime rates are low across the country. Locals repeatedly and proudly highlight the progress being made by the current government to eradicate corruption, improve education and strengthen the economy; progress that one of our parties would do well to achieve in a decade. In a way, Namibia is the perfect blend of everything and nothing. It has it all - great safari, rich history, good infrastructure, safety from crime & disease and every landscape that exists under the (endless) sun. And yet the majority of it is entirely untouched - wide and wild land without the instability that afflicts neighbouring countries on the continent. All with an absence of things that might make a first-timer to Africa nervous: crime, disease and political instability. Especially for families and those visiting Africa for the first time, Namibia really is the perfect way to experience the very best of the continent. In the open midst of its vast nothing, you’ll find everything you’re looking for.
The question of why we travel is one that I've kept returning to over the past couple of months. I've been reflecting on why we travel, the experiences we seek, the feelings we want to evoke and, crucially, how we often get in our own way. And the more I've thought about it, the more philosophical it's gotten. Enjoy this trip into the deep waters of travel philosophy. As I've thought deeper and listened longer, two words in particular have come up again and again. Awe and wonder. What is it that generates those sumptuous, sweet feelings of awe, wonder and delight in us when we travel? And how we can thoughtfully craft adventures that optimise for awe? To work this out I've trekked across fields - across the fields of psychology and philosophy. I've spoken to both travellers and people who work in travel. And I've tried to decipher what it is that makes travel feeling meaningful and awe-inspiring. This kind of hyperbole is far too overused, but in this case it's genuinely true: I've changed the way I think about travel. What makes a meaningful trip? Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman distinguished between our 'experiencing self' (there in the moment) and the 'remembering self' (the one who makes sense of what we experienced and creates a story around it). Our brains need time to create meaningful memories. So the way to create a truly unforgettable trip often isn't to cram more in. It's to slow down and allow in the awe & wonder that flood in naturally when you take the time to fully absorb where you are. Travel, in fact, is far more like music than it is a journey. With a journey, the point is to get somewhere; from A to B. You have a purpose that you're trying to fulfil. Like a commute to work or a journey to the doctor's. Your aim is to get where you're going. Travel - real, meaningful travel - much more closely resembles music. The point of music isn't to get to the end. Otherwise the best and most popular songs would be those with only one note! Music doesn't really have a point. There's no point in music beyond simply the enjoyment of the music itself. And this mindset shift helps to unlock more awe in our travel. Paradoxically then, purposeful travel bankrupts itself by keeping you fixated on the next thing; the next sight, the next city, the next thing to tick off. And in all that hurrying around you miss everything. Pointless travel, or slow travel, in having no explicit purpose, overlooks nothing. And thus immerses you fully in where you are. Slow travel When travel becomes less about ticking things off and more about experiencing fewer things more deeply, that's when we prime ourselves for awe. This means going deep rather than broad - spending more time in fewer places. Looking closely instead of whizzing by on your way to somewhere else. Not only is this more meaningful, it's much more relaxing! After all, the last thing you want to spend your precious travel time doing is, well, travelling. You actually get time to take a breath, settle and unwind instead of racing from one place to the next. You might even return without needing to say "I need a holiday to recover from my holiday!" So what? So far, so philosophical. What do I do with this information? Practically, there are useful ways to slow things down and give you the time and space to really savour a place: On your next trip, commit to seeing fewer places; instead spending longer getting under the skin of where you stay Opt for an expansive itinerary that provides unscheduled, free time. These are the moments when you let your curiosity take you! Engage with local culture & people; ask questions! Spend time in nature - the wilder the better! It turns out the route to more purposeful travel is to make it a bit more pointless.
