daydream about where it would be so much nicer to be: perhaps the beaches of Goa on India’s

幻想在哪裡會更好：或許是印度西岸的果亞海灘、

west coast, a little restaurant by a quiet canal in Venice, the highway near Big Sur

在威尼斯一條安靜的運河旁的小餐館、靠近加州公路大蘇爾段的部份（這段路包括許多懸岩、海岸，有著豐富的動植物資源，是加州著名的旅遊景點。）

in California or maybe the Faroe islands, far to the north of Scotland. The desire to

或者是法羅群島（丹麥領土），遠至北蘇格蘭。想旅行的慾望

travel is, almost always, sparked by a picture or two: a couple of mental snapshots that

幾乎總是會被一兩張圖片給點燃：一些一閃而逝的想法

encapsulate all that seems most alluring about a destination. A trip lasting many hours and

封裝了所有看似最誘人的目的地。一趟持續很多鐘頭且

costing what could be a small fortune may be initiated by nothing grander or more examined

會花上一大筆錢的旅程或許就是始於一兩張不怎麼起眼的

than one or two mental postcards. We travel because of a background belief that, of course,

精神明信片開始。我們旅遊是因為相信，理所當然地，

the reality of a scene must be nicer than the fleeting mental images that take us

現實的場景一定會優於那些把我們帶到該地的、一閃而逝的腦內圖像

there. But there is something about the way our minds work that we would do well to study

但在我們打包行李之前，我們可以先來學習一下

before we ever pack a suitcase: mental images are momentary. That is, they last, at best,

大腦運作的方式：腦內圖像是短暫的，也就是說，它們至多也只會在我們腦中停留

three seconds. When we imagine a scene, we imagine not a film but, that far briefer and

三秒鐘。當我們想像一個場景，我們並不是想像一段影片，而僅僅是更加簡短且

in many ways far more forgiving medium, a picture. And yet, we are never in a destination

各方面而言更能夠容許錯誤的媒介，一個圖片。然而，我們從不會只在目的地

just for a moment and that brute fact alone may be enough to cause grievous damage to

停留幾分鐘，並且那個殘忍的事實本身就足夠對於

the hopes that transport us far from home. We know the phenomenon well enough at the

我們遠離家鄉時所抱持的期待造成巨大傷害。我們在電影院就能夠了解到

cinema. Imagine if in the course of a story, the screen were filled with a sublime view

這個現象。想像一下，如果在故事的過程中，螢幕充滿這樣壯觀的畫面，

of ocean waves crashing against a craggy headland. We might sigh with desire at such splendour.

海浪拍擊在崎嶇的岬角。我們可能會帶著欲求地對這壯麗嘆一口氣

But if the camera started to linger on the scene, we might rapidly grow twitchy. What

但如果相機開始在這一幕上停留，我們可能很快就開始動搖

is fabulous in increments of seconds can become properly maddening after half a minute. Two

幾秒鐘內看起來精采無比的景象可能在半分鐘後就變得令人抓狂。

minutes in, we may be so irritated as to be ready to leave our seats. It’s not that

再兩分鐘，我們可能就會氣惱的準備離席。並不是

we’re ungrateful or shallow, rather that we absorb beauty quickly and then want to

我們不知感恩或是膚淺，而是我們很快就能吸收「美」並希望事情能夠

move on. Beauty is like a brilliant joke: we laugh, but don’t need the comic element

馬上進行下去，美就像是個有趣的笑話：我們笑，但不需要那個搞笑的元素

to be continuously replayed. The lovely mental pictures that get us to travel are – in

被持續重播。那些讓我們旅行的美麗圖片是－本質上，

essence – hugely edited versions of what we actually encounter in any destination.

－將我們將會在目的地遇到的景象大幅度編輯後的新版產物

We will, eventually, probably see these pictures, but we will also see so much else, so much

我們最後很可能會看到照片上的景物，但是我們也會看到很多其他的，很多

that is painful or boring, dispiriting or mundane: hours of footage of the stained airline

痛苦的或是無聊的、使人氣餒的或是世俗的：在我們飛機座位前播放的好幾個小時的影片

seat ahead of us, the back of the taxi driver’s head, the wall of the cheap hotel, a framed

，計程車司機的後腦杓，便宜旅館的牆壁，

photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the wall of a little local restaurant… Furthermore,

在一家當地小餐館牆壁上的瑪麗蓮夢露裱框照片.....此外，

there will always be something else on the lens between us and the destination we’d

在我們手持的相機鏡頭與目的地之間，總還會有其他的東西，

come for, something so tricky and oppressive as to undermine the whole purpose of having

那東西很棘手、很沈重，且首先將會完全地削弱我們踏出家門時

left home in the first place, namely: ourselves. We will, by an unavoidable error, bring ourselves

所抱持地決意，即是：我們自己。我們將會因為無法避免的錯誤，而把自己也一起帶到

along to every destination we’d ever wanted to enjoy. And that will mean bringing along

任何我們希望去享受的目的地。這意味著我們會帶著

so much of the mental baggage that makes being us so intolerably problematic day to day:

那些長期下來讓我們對於自己的身分充滿疑問的精神包袱：

all the anxiety, regret, confusion, guilt, irritability and despair. None of this smear

所有的焦慮、後悔、困惑、罪惡感、易怒跟失望

of the self is there when we picture a trip from home. In the imagination, we can enjoy

當我們在家裡想像一趟旅程時，不會描繪出任何跟「自己」有關的汙點。在想像中，我們能夠享受

unsullied views. But there, at the foot of the golden temple or high up on the pine-covered

不受污染的景色。但是在那裡，在通往黃金寺廟的路上，或是被高大的松樹所覆蓋的

mountain, we stand to find that there is so much of ‘us’ intruding on our vistas.

山上，我們發現有如此多的「我們」闖入了我們的視野中

We ruin our trips by a fateful habit of taking ourselves along on them. There’s a tragi-comic

我們因為把「自己」帶著去旅行這個致命的錯誤而毀掉了旅程，有個像是悲劇漫畫地原理

irony at work: the vast labour of getting ourselves physically to a place won’t necessarily

在諷刺地運作著：將我們自己實體上移至他處的所花費的龐大勞碌，並不一定能讓我們

get us any closer to the essence of what we’d been seeking. As airlines, hotel chains and

更加接近自己所尋找的東西的本質。航線、連鎖旅店、以及

travel magazines conspire never to tell us, in daydreaming of the ideal location, we may

旅遊雜誌早就密謀好了不會告訴我們：在做著有關理想旅遊地點的白日夢裡，我們可能

have already enjoyed the very best that any place has to offer us.

已經享受了任何一個地方所能給予我們最棒的東西了

We love bringing you these films. If you want to help us to keep bringing you thoughtful content;

我們很高興可以為你帶來這些影片。如果你想要幫助我們去提供你更周到的內容

please consider supporting us by visiting our shop at the link on your screen now.

請考慮藉由點開螢幕上這個連結、拜訪我們的店來支持我們