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The Art of Travel
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
Any Baedeker will tell us where we ought to travel, but only Alain de Botton will tell us how and why. With the same intelligence and insouciant charm he brought to How Proust Can Save Your Life, de Botton considers the pleasures of anticipation; the allure of the exotic, and the value of noticing everything from a seascape in Barbados to the takeoffs at Heathrow. Even as de Botton takes the reader along on his own peregrinations, he also cites such distinguished fellow-travelers as Baudelaire, Wordsworth, Van Gogh, the biologist Alexander von Humboldt, and the 18th-century eccentric Xavier de Maistre, who catalogued the wonders of his bedroom. The Art of Travel is a wise and utterly original book. Dont leave home without it. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Booksbymybed
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

Finished The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton as we were landing after our trip. I really enjoyed this collection of reflections on various emotional aspects of travel. This is not a how to, more of a “why”. Highlighted a lot of passages and quotes to return to later.

review
The_Penniless_Author
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Mehso-so

I'm not entirely sure how this book ended up in my collection, but I am familiar with de Botton and it was a national bestseller, so I guess it entered my consciousness somehow. This is not a travelogue nor a list of tips for surviving in exotic locales without the benefit of First World amenities. De Botton is no adventure tourist. Rather, it is about the mindset of travel, the inner-self and the way one's psychology can be affected and... 👇

The_Penniless_Author ...morphed through travel. I appreciate the argument, and de Botton is a beautiful writer, but I can't help but feel that the power of his message is undercut by the limited sort of travel he actualky undertakes. 4y
The_Penniless_Author I get that for de Botton the travel "mindset" is what matters and the destination is almost superfluous, but the blue-collarness in me still recoils a bit at a European dandy rhapsodizing over the transformative power of a trip to a resort in Barbados ? 4y
26 likes2 comments
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RinaBrahmbhattBarot
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

After a busy weekend, finally time to put my feet up and wander off to another journey! I‘ve had this book in my #TBR forever..(like years) and finally picking this up! It‘s a book you can dip in and out from! He‘s a brilliant author, I loved his work about Proust (fascinating read). What are you reading this evening?

RinaBrahmbhattBarot @megnews hey! Looks like a great book (despite not so great review) is it based in NYC? 4y
megnews It is which was one reason I was drawn to it. Some of the reviews I read didn‘t care for the dual timeline. I like that sort of thing although I agree with one reviewer-I usually end up liking the historical one best. It is interesting to see the struggles women in the workplace faced both in 1949 and today. 4y
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Mistermandolin
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

Closest I came to a holiday this year, covering everything from anticipation to return via motives, landscape and art. I like De Botton best when he‘s like this, providing part-travelogue, part-rumination in the company of a wide range of insightful guides from Wordsworth to de Maistre. Much better than his more recent pontifications on God-less religion, that‘s for sure. More original and infinitely more refreshing.

60 likes2 stack adds
blurb
rockpools
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Having explored various aspects of travel, de Botton ends by discovering his #Homeland thro the mindset of a traveller. Following 18th century explorer Xavier de Maistre, he starts with his bedroom, before moving to his wider neighbourhood.

“Of the 4000 things there might be to see and reflect on in the street, we end up actively aware of only a few: the number of humans in our path, the amount of traffic & the likelihood of rain”

#soaringscores

CrowCAH An interesting list of three things. 5y
Cinfhen Cool concept 5y
43 likes2 comments
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RinaBrahmbhattBarot
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

M companion this afternoon #CurentRead. I loved his two previous books (the one about Proust, makes me want to travel to Proust's hometown)

blurb
rockpools
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Low tide! On a train to an airport to The North (generally!) and I‘m having a little bit of an airport-related freak-out. I‘ve only flown by myself once before, haven‘t flown anywhere in round about 997 days (don‘t ask!), am totally out of practice and am generally being a muppet. It‘s only an internal flight, ffs. Would someone please tell me to get it together? Ta!

Karisa Sending lots of love from California! Meditation apps help me! Download a track and hang in there. 💗 6y
Eyelit You‘ve got this! 💜 6y
See All 8 Comments
rockpools @Karisa I have one on my phone, which I‘ve used exactly once. Will give it a go. Thanks. 6y
rockpools @Eyelit @rather_be_reading My library‘s decided it‘s the perfect time to auto-download Milkman, so there is that... 6y
CrowCAH Stay calm and read! 📖 6y
jpmcwisemorgan I try to distract myself with reading, that mostly works. 6y
TrishB Hope it was ok! I fly a lot with work and still don‘t like it! 6y
50 likes8 comments
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LapReader
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

1. Ice cream for dinner on a hot night 2. Beach provided the waves aren‘t too big and the water is crystal clear 3. Watermelon. Strawberries just aren‘t as good as when I was a kid 4. Travel as long as I don‘t have to organise it 5. Print.

AmberWB Ice cream for dinner is the best. 😊 6y
8 likes2 comments
blurb
erzascarletbookgasm
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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This book is an exploration of the role of travel, providing an insight into the reasons why people travel - is it exploration, adventure, personal transformation or all of the above?
#emojimadness #🛄

BarbaraBB I‘d love to know the answer 😀 7y
81 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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rockpools
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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The view from a #BigJetPlane, and one of those books I may read one day... Αlain de Botton looks at why we travel, witb thd help of artists, writers, philosophers. Lots of pics of airports/from aeroplanes ✈️ etc etc.

#tuneintonovember @Robothugs @Cinfhen

Cinfhen 😍Sounds Interesting ... glad you're playing along! How's the challenges going?!? 7y
Robothugs This does sound interesting! 7y
rockpools @Cinfhen 😊 This month *might* have fewer deadlines in it, so I'm going to give it a go... 1.5 more on ReadHarder, so I hope to finish that this month, but I've called it a day on LitsyAtoZ - I was aiming for 12, and think I've read 18, so not bad. And I WILL finish that Icelanders book!!! How about you? Many more to go? 7y
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rockpools @Robothugs Thank you! Nice to see you back hosting ☺️ 7y
Robothugs Thank you!! 😄 7y
Cinfhen I have one left for #LitsyAtoZ and then im done!!! I think.... I stopped caring & paying attention 7y
rockpools @Cinfhen 😂🎉😂Fair enough! You'd done LOADS! (& it is suppose to be fun...) I'm on candyfloss, light fluffy reads for a little while now! 7y
38 likes7 comments
blurb
erzascarletbookgasm
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Besides Verne's Around The World In 80 Days, this is the other book that comes to mind.
#aroundtheworld #sizzlinsummerbooks @Tiffy_Reads

44 likes1 stack add
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rockpools
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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A travel-themed #bookpyramid for #photoadaynov16.

LeahBergen 👍🏼👍🏼 8y
22 likes1 comment
quote
0_phe1ia
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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"Life is a hospital in which every patient is obsessed with changing beds: this one wants to suffer in front of the radiator, and that one thinks he's get better if he was by the window. It always seems to me that I'll be well where I am not, and this question of moving is one that I'm forever entertaining with my soul" - Charles Baudelaire

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Oblomov26
The Art of Travel | Alain de Botton
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Time to take a break for a few days and trying to recall some of de Botton's advice on traveling. Always found him to be a good introduction on a subject providing areas/ subject for further investigation.

Laura317 There really seems to be an art to travel! I see some who make it look so effortless and easy. Like a beautiful Renoir. Me? I'm travel graffiti. A complete discombobulated mess 😂 8y
BookBabe @Laura317 😂👌🏻 8y
Oblomov26 I am not a tourist but would never claim the status of traveler. I have met real travelers and they are a breed apart. When in doubt I pretend to be one - it helps me, even if it convinces no one else. 😉 8y
Trav Have you read The Consolations of Philosophy? I quite enjoyed that one. 8y
34 likes4 comments