We have been on the road for over three weeks now. It's been right across Turkey, since Istanbul we've left several thousand kilometres of asphalt behind us. Juri is chugging along bravely through various vegetation areas, city and countryside, sometimes at 31°C, sometimes at 41°C. But he chugs. And since about half of the journey time is over, a little look behind the dirty windscreen is a good idea. Jonathan, Louis and I have known each other for about four years. In Nordhäuserstraße 63 we suffered together, ran into each other in the refectory or wasted precious time in the library. In other Erfurt streets - Dahlbergsweg, Albrechtstraße, Lasallestraße - then the more pleasant events, sometimes over water, Sterni or sparkling wine. Nevertheless, all the streets have one thing in common: there was a lot of discussion. About socialism, monogamy, the sense of the Tomorrow Bank. (Get in touch, Louis can put you in touch! GREEN INVESTMENTS!!!)
And even now on our journey, there is passionate discussion and sometimes arguing. Non-violent communication and all that. In the meantime, we have settled initial conflicts about the route and turned right before the Georgian border. What I thought was a pity turned out to be the right decision, because south-eastern Turkey is rich in old things, fortresses and archaeological sites. In short - there is a lot to see. We have found a good pace, experience a lot and have a wonderful time, to which even the occasional discussion fits quite well. But after three weeks of Farht we realise: soon it will be time for a little holiday.
What do you mean, HOLIDAY? That's all holiday you're doing, isn't it?!
No. We travel. And now, because I've always wanted to do this, my theory on travelling and going on holiday. It may be quoted like this in future: Andreae, Jonas: Reisen und Urlaub machen - eine kritische Abgrenzung, in: Juri93, 2022. You are welcome.
Holidays
It has never been so easy, so cheap, so available. Go on holiday. Get on the plane (Ryanair, €13.99), get off the plane, go to the beach. Then a free choice between bucket brunches, tanning, spaghetti ice cream and spaghetti all'arrabiata. For a week of unrestrained life in the abundance of the all-inclusive resort. Then back on the plane, off the plane, back to the dreariness of pitiful book-age life.
Sorry, but anyone who has ever clapped on a plane will have to deal with my polemic. Of course there are other ways to go on holiday. Holidays are nice, holidays are fun. Just come down, wind down, chillaxxx. Whether you want to go to Malle or Tenerife, today you have an incredible choice of destinations that can be reached for a small amount of money. That's a good thing in the first place; getting away on holiday is not only possible for the upper crust. Even if some places have therefore turned into tourist hells where Germans wander around like the undead, eating, drinking, consuming and exposing their leathery skin to the biting sun.
Sorry, but anyone who has ever clapped on a plane will have to deal with my polemic. Of course there are other ways to go on holiday. Holidays are nice, holidays are fun. Just come down, wind down, chillaxxx. Whether you want to go to Malle or Tenerife, today you have an incredible choice of destinations that can be reached for a small amount of money. That's a good thing in the first place; getting away on holiday is not only possible for the upper crust. Even if some places have therefore turned into tourist hells where Germans wander around like the undead, eating, drinking, consuming and exposing their leathery skin to the biting sun.
Holidays, as the Bundestag decided in 1963, are supposed to serve to restore and maintain the labour force. But it's stupid if you don't have a job at all, like we do. What am I supposed to restore myself for then? So: no to holidays, yes to travel.
Travel
When you go on a journey, you have a certain amount of expectation of yourself. You don't want to come back without some form of knowledge. "Travel yourself interesting." So sounded, somewhat seductively, the advertising slogan of the online travel provider Expedia. Flight booked, trip taken, found interesting. Travel as an end in itself, travel for the clicks, for the fame, for the envious looks when you show the photos or better still post them for all the world to see, to polish your image to a high gloss. Wow, what a cool guy, flying to Lima, Nepal, Reykjavik.
The commercial fails to recognise that travelling is not about optimising one's own image. What's the point of taking the fiftieth thousandth photo in front of the Taj Mahal and learning nothing about India at the same time? No, people who travel learn and educate themselves automatically. There must be some purpose if I go to see the eighth world heritage site of the week.
Travelling is not about relaxing, but about taking something with you, either as a person or as a group. Especially in regions that are not made for holidays, where the menu is translated hand and foot and a small red car with Meissen licence plates still causes real excitement, this works very well. Rather involuntarily, we have already met a few Turks (actually only men). The hospitality is overwhelming in places. But we get something, a basic feeling for the region.
For example, from the old man with a cane who approached us in a small village at Lake Van. In the very second sentence he mentioned Kurdistan and drew the borders of the missing nation in the sand with his stick. Or the Turkish tourist who asked us in the coffee where we were from. A little later he talked about the upcoming elections, in which he does not believe and which will only cement the old circumstances anyway.
All these impressions make our trip interesting and varied - but also a little exhausting. That's why we are glad to get out of Turkey for a while next week. On 11.08. we will take the ferry to Cyprus and have a little holiday. So that we can continue travelling afterwards.