Literary travels
There was a piece in the NY Times a few Sundays ago about books that inspired various writers’ wanderlust. Stephen Colbert said he’s always wanted to go to Middle Earth. I just want to go to New Zealand. I want to see each and every location where they shot Lord of the Rings. A few nights ago I met an exchange student from New Zealand–lovely girl (hi, Zoe!)–and we spent the evening looking at her photos from home (which worked out fine since I’m always much more comfortable hanging out with high school students than with adults–somehow I never feel qualified to talk with the grown ups).
Now I MUST go to New Zealand. It’s not just a hazy wish anymore. I’m moving it to the top 5 on my current Life List. I plan to go in 2008. There. I’ve said it out loud. Now it will happen.
I’m pursuing another literary travel fantasy this summer. Having spent my high school and college years fantasizing about Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy and a slew of other hot, British crushes, I am finally–FINALLY–going to England! I was in the London Heathrow airport last year on my way to Germany, and I was so thrilled to be on British soil–albeit in the completely artificial environment of an indoor mall posing as an airport–that I did something I never do. I bought jewelry at an airport store. (Actually, buying jewelry in general also qualifies as something I never do.) Now every time I wear my robin’s egg blue Wedgewood china earrings, I think of London. What a treat.
But this summer I’ll be spending 10 whole days in London, feasting my eyes on castles and crowns, enjoying the sound of real British accents all around me, eating fish and chips, doing every cliche thing I can possibly think of, because I’m finally getting to go where I’ve been dreaming of since I was a teenager.
And, to really geek out on it, I’m going on a Jane Austen tour. I’ll go see her house, the countryside around it, the elaborate estates that inspired some of her creations. I can’t think about it too hard right now or my heart beats too fast. And I have a lot of work to do before I go, so I need to concentrate on that right now. Ssshhh. We’ll talk about all of this later.
Has anybody else taken a trip to fulfill some literary or movie fantasy? I keep reading about all these Da Vinci Code tours of Europe. Not my thing, but I certainly don’t scoff at it. I’ll be checking out Hobbiton and the Shire two years from now, so I say go for it.
Even if you’ve never taken a trip like that yet, is there someplace you’d love to go because some book, movie, or TV show implanted it in your brain? Don’t be shy–we all have our inner geek. If you’ve always wanted to visit one of the planets from Star Wars, say so.
Technorati Tags: Books, Reading, Literature, Literature Tour, Jane Austen, Lord of the Rings, New Zealand, London
May 25th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
wow, i am either totally misinformed or sorely lacking in imagination, or a combination of both.
my google inquiry shows that that the hobbits are not kiwis but hail from france and heathcliff lives with the nutmeg family in chicago and is in love with the pretty persian, sonja. i bought a pair of sunglasses at the sunglass hut in the denver airport and have since worn them on an almost daily daily basis without once thinking of the nuggets or hankering for a coors lite.
i guess i’ll just have to continue to make my vacation memeories at knox berry farm.
on a serious note, last year i visited machu pichu, a place i had fantasized about since childhood. it did not disappoint. having read everything there was to read about the ruins and having seen picture after picture, i had the same sense of place i felt the first time i saw rome–”hey, i know this place, it looks just like it should”–it was wonderful. i can’t vouch for middle earth but i’m sure that your england jaunt will give you that deja vu all over again sensation. enjoy.