Lee Liang Ying
School of Culture, Media and Society
Going into the Out of Eden Walk event blind, without knowing who Paul Salopek was and what his herculean sounding project entailed, I was naturally not there as a fan or expert on the topic. Rather, I went as someone who simply loves walking too. Whenever I’m in a new environment, I don’t mind putting in the leg work to get to know the nooks and crannies of the place. Taking a car may be a no-brainer for most people who have a destination in mind, but for me, that takes the journey out of travelling. Getting in a car somewhere and getting off elsewhere is like teleportation – there’s a beginning and end, but no middle; something feels missing.
This is why Paul Salopek’s belief in ‘slow journalism’ resonated with me. He spoke of how he used to chase the headlines as a reporter, flying from city to city to get the scoop. However, along the way he started to wonder about all the news he was missing, about the people living below as he passed by on a plane. Thus, he decided to start his project Out of Eden Walk to walk across the world from Africa to America, to capture the stories of the common folks he meets. It was both intriguing and comforting to know that there is meaning in the mundane and obscure, not simply in a touristic or capitalist way, but as subjects for interpersonal connections.
Although my motivations for walking may not exactly align with Salopek’s, I strongly believe that walking is what makes us human as well. In a book I’m reading now, the author quotes Okada Kishu, an author who wrote about ‘tabi’ (journey, pilgrimage). He says, “tabi requires the five human senses. The entire human being is involved in it”. That is why a “journey on foot allows the traveller to absorb all the sensations and discover oneself”. By slowing down and being conscious of the environment we are in gives our body the deliberateness of movement, and mind the “space and time” it needs to reflect and rest. I think that being aware and reflective of our lives is a human quality that we should cultivate more in a world of busy.
Regardless of whether one agrees with that sentiment or not, I think that the experience would be thought/ emotion-provoking in any sense of its meaning. Personally, it felt affirming to know that someone who walks for his life’s work is also getting asked, “Why?”. I get asked the same too when I share that I walk instead of taking transportation, “Really? Isn’t that far?”. If I may call our society one where walking has been ‘un-normalised’, it is rewarding to share an emotional connection to someone who walks as well. I’m sure many of the attendants that day thought the same as well – we would’ve loved to hear more of Salopek’s insights; but alas, he has a journey to continue.
Milestone 103 of Paul Salopek’s journey in Japan (near Yamaguchi): https://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.org/milestone-103-trick-of-the-imagination/
Photo by ICC
