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Friday, February 10, 2023

Better to travel in hope than to arrive? wrote Robert Louis Stevenson

 R L Stevenson's famous quote applies to may journeys where the fun is in the journey, which contains so many challenges and experiences that the journey eclipses the place where you arrive. Stevenson  (1850-1894) wrote Kidnapped and Treasure Island. He immortalized as Long John Silver his friend, William Ernest Henley (1849-1903). Henley, on the eve of having his leg amputated, wrote the inspiring Invictus in 1875, defying fate  'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul'. 

But let's go back to travelling and hope.

Robert Louis Stevenson. From Wikipedia.

That was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1881 and is still widely quoted. He wrote in the days when it took three weeks to reach the Far East or Australia, so the journey was a major part of the adventure. 

Nowadays, his quotation about travelling being better applies even more when the journey can be intended to be the whole event.  Cruises to nowhere? Dining in a plane on the ground! 

Those are unusual. But here are some examples of more regular journeys.

Luxury Holidays

On a well-organized cruise ship, the entertainment aboard could be better, and more memorable, than the ports of call. You might be impressed by the variety of entertainment, make friends with dining companions, remember dining with the captain, enjoy playing cards on a bridge cruise. I know of one case when a couple's marriage was saved by a young man who led a small session on relationships. 

On some hikes, there is a view at the top of the mountain or volcano, or a waterfall half way for a lunch stop. However, on others, the view on most of the trip, or the changing terrain, is the attraction.

Attractions

On a Ferris wheel. The one in Singapore is called the Singapore Flyer. The one in London is called the London Eye. The general names include Observation Wheel and Big Wheel.

Circular Routes

You can go on a circular motorbike ride, without a special destination. My husband has taken lots of bike rides around Malaysia. He said, 

'Or you could have a destination, such as the motor GP, or seeing Malacca.'

Long-haul Flights

I love travelling on Singapore Airlines. I get to watch three good films.

Types of Transport

Sometimes the novelty means of travel is at the destination. We arrived at the airport in Cambodia and the hotel had sent a taxi to collect us. The taxi turned out to be a motorbike and a canopied contraption with open sides on the back. We bounced along at horrendous speed. My right hand clung onto the vehicle which swung in and out of traffic as if we were being chased by men with murder in mind.  The wind was blowing so hard that I needed to hold onto my hat with my left hand. I was laughing hysterically.

Now, since Covid, with zoom, we can travel around the world to meetings and with major museums and hotels offering 360 degree views inside and out, and tourist boards using drones.

What about the hope? 

Everybody is rushing to travel. Despite a huge hike in prices on Singapore Airlines the plane we took in January this year was full.

From next Tuesday, Feb 13th, 2023, Singapore will no longer require masks on public transport, only in health care settings where people are most vulnerable and some are already sick or elderly in crowded places.

RLS Memorials You Might Hope To Visit

You can see several monuments to Robert Louis Stevenson on his homeland of Scotland. 

Monument to RLS in RLS State Park in California, USA.

He met his wife to be fanny and followed her to the USA.

Stevenson House

In 1879, Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson stayed at the French Hotel at 530 Houston Street, now called the Stevenson House after him and dedicated to his memory. Stevenson lived there while recovering his health as he was crossing the United States to court his future wife Fanny Osbourne. While there, he often dined "on the cuff," as he said, at a nearby restaurant run by Frenchman Jules Simoneau which stood at what is now Simoneau Plaza. Several years later, Stevenson sent Simoneau an inscribed copy of his novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), writing that it would be a stranger case still if Robert Louis Stevenson ever forgot Jules Simoneau. Stevenson wrote some articles for the local Monterey newspaper, including one that beautifully evoked "the Old Pacific Capital."

The Stevenson House features a bas relief depicting the sickly author writing in bed,[17] and is California Historical Landmark #352.[18]


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
One of the peaks of Mount Saint Helena.JPG
One of the peaks of Mount Saint Helena
Map showing the location of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
Map showing the location of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
LocationSonoma and Napa counties, California
Nearest cityCalistoga, California
Coordinates38°39′12″N 122°36′12″WCoordinates
: 38°39′12″N 122°36′12″W
Governing bodyState of California
Reference no.710[1]

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is a California state park, located in SonomaLake and Napa counties. The park offers a 5-mile (8 km) hike to the summit of Mount Saint Helena from which much of the Bay Area can be seen. On clear days it is possible to see the peak of Mount Shasta, 192 miles (310 km) distant.

Overview[edit]

The park is named after Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped. In 1880, Stevenson and his new wife Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne spent their honeymoon living in a cabin at a played-out mine on the mountain along with Fanny's son Lloyd Osbourne. Although nothing remains of the cabin, the site is identified on the trail to the summit. Stevenson's book Silverado Squatters contains stories he wrote about his experiences during his visit to the area.

The area has rough terrain, with evergreen forests in the canyons on north-facing slopes and chaparral on the south-facing slopes.

Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is located off State Route 29 between Calistoga and Middletown. The park is registered as California Historical Landmark #710.[1]




Monument to RLS, showing a galleon, in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, USA. (Picture from Wikipedia.)

Detail of galleon
Photo by Daderot in Wikipedia.


He was an intrepid traveller. I am a travel writer over seventy years old and have travelled all over the USA, Europe and Asia and Australia.

But I haven't yet reached Samoa where he was buried. I hope to go there one day.



RLS grave in Samoa.

Wiki says

Mount Vaea, where they buried him on a spot overlooking the sea on land donated by British Acting Vice Consul Thomas Trood.[96] Based on Stevenson's poem Requiem,[97] the following epitaph is inscribed on his tomb:[98]

Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie
Glad did I live and gladly die
And I laid me down with a will
This be the verse you grave for me
Here he lies where he longed to be
Home is the sailor home from the sea
And the hunter home from the hill

Stevenson was loved by Samoans, and his tombstone epigraph was translated to a Samoan song of grief.[99] The requiem appears on the eastern side of the grave. On the western side the biblical passage of Ruth 1:16-17 is inscribed:

Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
And thy people shall be my people, and thy God shall be my God:
Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried.[100
I know the first two lines well. Interesting to see the third line.
Profile bust of Stevenson in the Writers' Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.


Stevenson writing in bed in the USA. Travel had taken its toll. Bas relief in Stevenson House, California.


RLS travelling on horseback.

Statue of RLS as a child, seated, with a dog. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Outside Parish church.

Robert Louis Stevenson bust by Rodin in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Scotland, UK. Open daily, 10-5 pm, admission free.


RLS's friend, Henley, who wrote the Poem Invictus, and inspired the character Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883). 

Henley's delicate daughter, who died aged five, called his friend James Barrie, frendy-wendy, which inspired Barrie to name his female leading character as Wendy in Peter Pan. 

RLS wrote to fellow Scotsman Barrie and invited him to Samoa but they never met.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey_State_Historic_Park#Stevenson_House

RLS Info on memorials Samoa, UK, USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Louis_Stevenson_State_Park

RLS bust in NPG Scotland

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery

Author of Invicticus buried in UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockayne_Hatley

TRANSPORT - big wheel Singapore

https://www.singaporeflyer.com/en

See next post on William Ernest Henley.

Please share links to your favourite posts.



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