Traveler's Perceptions In Why We Love By Pico Iyer

800 Words2 Pages

Ibn Battuta once said, Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. Pico Iyer would certainly agree with the quote. In his essay, “Why We Travel” he describes travel as a journey to a subjective zone. It is about the traveler and the place where traveler’s qualities and inputs are crucial since different people have their distinctive perceptions. Suzy Gershman, Jim Benning, and Rajendra Khadka show that they share different approaches from the other character within the story. This essay will depict the subjectiveness of the each story mentioned and how travelers distinctively experience the voyage into their travel destination. Gershman’s story, “Shop! In the Name of Love” illustrates how travel can be subjective …show more content…

When Jim and his wife Leslie are at the hotel where they claim it to be their place of refuge protecting them from the foreign world, Jim receives a call from mysterious prostitute woman. The story could have a different ending when Leslie was the one who picks up the phone. Jim’s attitude toward the prostitute changes to enjoy the phone call later on, however, “Leslie...shot me a quizzical look” (1) indicates her thoughts on her husband, wondering why is he not hanging up the phone. Almost toward the end of Benning’s conversation with the prostitute, when Leslie finds out that he is still on the phone, “She couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused” (2). The quotes portray her puzzled thoughts on Benning’s action which shows that she would not do the same thing. It projects her response of the same event of prostitute calling contrasting to her husband, and if this story was written by her, the readers could anticipate a different story with a different perception. An example of “Lust in Translation” illustrates how traveling is a compound of one’s imagination and knowledge to the …show more content…

Unhygienic and unwelcoming environment go against his expectation that he initially imagined from his friend. His friend told Khadka that “you feel at home. It’s on Nathan Road where you can get anything you want very cheaply” (266) which are the positive review of his friend’s. It is the same place that they are discussing. However, it implies that comments of an individual are contrasting due to their various point of view. Moreover, when Khadka takes a taxi to the airport, conversation with the taxi driver also demonstrates contrary opinion by him saying “good place. Cheap. You enjoy your stay?” (270) and assumes he would have a pleasant time being there. After that, even though the taxi driver attempted to convince Khadka about his terrible perception of Chungking mansion by explaining particular wing has better quality than the one that he was at, Khadka seems determined with his mind. A friend of Khadka who recommend the place and the taxi driver both have an optimistic viewpoint of the same location whereas Khadka is in a hurry to leave the country. It demonstrates how travel narratives could not be objective due to how the people perceive the surroundings because travel is a compound

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