Sophie’s World

At the beginning of the year, Tripadvisor listed their 2008 mapmakers. Along with Dubai, Le Val, Beijing, Johannesburg, Las Vegas, Chicago and Wasilla, Oslo made the (I suppose) exclusive list of only 8 destinations, interestingly enough. And why is that interesting? I’m glad you asked!

It seems what draws people’s attention to a (new) place, is mostly - other people.

Beijing: With the 2008 Summer Olympics, this is obvious to all.

Johannesburg: Miss World 2008. Although I consider these contests vulgar - or in the words of that superb travel writer William Dalrymple, tacky and tasteless - I acknowledge their importance to a great many people in the world. In fact, South Africa is where I first was told that televised beauty contests are just as important as sporting events. Everyone watches!

Dubai: Michael Jackson was there in 2008. Is that enough to spark interest? Really?

Le Val (Provence): Hang-out of Brangelina. Again, enough…?

Wasilla, Alaska: Sarah Palin. Again…?

Chicago, Illinois: Obama. A given?

Las Vegas, Nevada: This one is a bit more baffling, financial crunch and all. Or is that perhaps why? The potential for victory at the gaming tables brings a glimmer of hope - albeit short-lived for most - in a challenging world?

Oslo: A new opera house (with ambitions to rival the one in Sydney - consider yourselves warned, Ozzies).

I’m very pleased travellers were drawn to Oslo in 2008. And not because a celebrity was spotted here, a chance to gamble away their life savings or to see girls strutting about on a stage like puppets. But a new opera house. I think that’s just wonderful!

Oslo Opera House - very cool photo by Kris Taeleman

The other day, I received an e-mail from a travel company with the headline Real Adventures don’t have to be Uncomfortable… 

I’d argue that they do. For a trip to be memorable – which is a requirement for a trip to be an adventure, don’t you think? – it has to be at least a little uncomfortable. In Arabian Sands, Wilfred Thesiger states It’s not the goal but the way there that matters, and the harder the way the more worthwhile the journey. He then goes on to compare taking a funicular railway vs. climbing to the top of a mountain, and leaves no one in doubt as to what must be the most satisfying.

Which are the trips – or the details of a trip – you remember? Is it the one where everything ran smoothly and you were comfortable all the time?

Or is it that time the Guatemalan bus got stuck in the mud and you had to help push, ruining your insensible high-heeled shoes in the process? Or that trip where you at regular intervals were sprayed with camel urine; because your kids got to ride and you were stuck in the cart behind? Perhaps that one time you woke up at 5 a.m. on an Indian beach because you had to pee and were too scared to get out of your sleeping bag because you were surrounded by large, mean-looking birds? Or even the time you discovered Irish black- and white pudding consists of congealed pig’s blood? Or that time you spent the night in a Soviet-style concrete block of flats in Chisinau, wondering if “8″ in the ramshackle lift was written in blood?

 

What do you think?

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