Around the World in Two Days

I have felt like Phileas Fogg several times in my life. Never heard of him? If you don’t know who that is, I recommend looking into the classic story by Jules Verne: Around the World in 80 days. If you have never read the book, I highly recommend doing so. And even if you’ve never read it, you’ve probably either seen one of the movies or adaptations. My favorite being the 2021 TV series from the BBC starring the fantastic David Tennant. The whole idea of the story goes that a very wealthy man in England is challenged to the task of completing a journey around the world point to point, in 80 days flat.

Between steamer boats, trains, and well-tuned pocket watches, Phileas Fogg manages to get himself all the way around the world and win the bet. Along the way, Mr. Fogg is slowly transformed. At the beginning all he simply cares about is completing the challenge. The money doesn’t even seem to concern him. He wants to get from point a to point b. His compatriot, Passepartout, disagrees with his travel technique. He thinks that experiencing a lot along the way would certainly be far more fun. During the book, Phileas, ever the English soul, ignores passing scenery it has trained window, and even at times, withholds travel niceties from himself. He just plays his cards and sips his brandy. And despite of all of this, Phileas Fogg finds himself dragged headlong into precarious situations. He meets interesting people. Solves interesting and even impossible challenges. And even in the end, the stoic pride of England even falls in love with a woman from India.

My mind drifts to this story quite frequently. My wife and I tend to travel quickly from one place to the next, seeing a lot along the way. I have in the past had people tell me that we don’t spend enough time in one location. Three days in London? That’s not enough time! Oh, you can’t experience Japan unless you’ve lived there. You definitely need to spend an entire summer in Thailand. Travelers tend to be kind of snobs (I’m guilty too). Usually the time requirement for experiencing locations gets longer and longer depending on who you talk to. But going to location briefly and moving on is not without its benefits.

I specifically felt like Phileas Fogg when we were traveling through Italy. We started at a must-see location. Rome. And much like Mr. Fogg we also stayed in interesting places. The sisters at the nunnery graciously opened their arms and we stayed two nights within walking distance of Rome Central train station and the Coliseum. Is 2 days enough to see Rome? That really depends. If you want to see it all, experience it all, wait in line at St Peters Basilica, tour ancient ruins, and get inside looks at old and mysterious places, maybe not. But still we saw an experienced so much. And then we were off. From train station to train station we traveled. Making our way north into Switzerland. We stopped along the way on the coast ate good food, and saw the beautiful sights. The stunning Med. Blazing through Italy may not be the best way to get the perfect quintessential Italian experience. But much like Phileas, the countryside out your train window cannot be ignored. No matter who you are, you simply cannot ignore people when you’re traveling. You think you can. But eventually someone will walk up to you and have a question. Where are you from? Do you have any change? Do you know the directions to x? And no matter what, things will certainly happen to you along the way. You may not find yourself trapped in India and rescuing a damsel in distress (see chapter 5 in Vernes’ book.) But things will indeed happen to you nonetheless. And you will certainly walk away changed. So, the next time somebody scoffs, “you should have been in New York at Rockefeller Center during Christmas because that’s the only time to really experience it.” Or the next time somebody says you really need a week to understand Dublin. Or, “you should probably leave the resort in Mexico because you’ve not experienced the real Mexico.” Just think of Phileas Fogg in a top hat playing cards on a train. And never let someone criticize how you travel. It’s all far too subjective. And it’s all very, very personal.

anthony forrest