Myles Cooper

09/11/14

INQ 110 U

Dr. Hanstedt

INQ 110 U Paper #1

Do the Roads Diverge?

            Do you ever have that feeling, like a feeling of wanderlust? Have you just aimlessly walked or traveled for days, months, years even just out of pure enjoyment or just to find that place where you believe you will be happy. Well I haven’t experienced that, and I don’t believe I have the money, yet, to just travel or hitchhike the earth. But I must say I have a sense of wanderlust, similar to Catherine Watson. I myself want to travel, especially to Finland, possibly to fill a void in my life, or out pure love, just like how Catherine traveled to Easter Island.

            In my life I’ve had this unquenchable thirst to adventure, and go to places just to let the culture wash over me, I‘ve especially had in interest in the Scandinavian Countries (Especially Finland since I have a friend there). This is similar to Catherine who has always wanted to travel to Easter Island, even when she was child as stated in the passage

            “I had been under its spell since before I could read, ever since my father first showed me its pictures in books- haunting pictures of giant stone heads perched on grassy slopes, lips pursed eyes blank, staring out to the sea” (pg 278)

In this excerpt I believe I can relate to her on how she is spell bound by the country, purely due to the beauty and even mystery behind the nation; she is enamored by the colossal prehistoric structures known as the moai like I am drawn into Finland natural beauty especially in Pielinen forest ( the 4th largest forest in Finland.)

            The lingering thought I have is that fear of learning the thing you love is not all what it is cut out to be. I learned that through relationships, high school clubs, and classes and the list goes on. But what about something you thought was different or unique, unlike anything else, like Easter Island. I have yet to visit Finland, but I plan to visit soon to not only meet my friend but to engross myself in the culture. But what if I engross myself too much like Catherine, she herself saw the negatives of the island? But I think to myself, isn’t that part of the experience where there is good there is always bad, so why not see the negatives rather than avoid. Catherine in a sense truly didn’t really experience the Island as whole, she only enjoyed the good qualities but grew weary and let her “Minnesota Conditioning” (pg 282) get the best of her and missed out on seeing the entirety of the islands culture and society.

            I do believe traveling does fill something in your life, in this case it is loneliness for Catherine. She is made out as a shy individual before the Easter Island experience, but grew into somewhat of an extrovert. Now I don’t suffer from loneliness but I do believe that traveling helps fill a void in your life. Maybe you lack excitement in your life, maybe you are just adventurous; either it helps keep sane.

            So this concludes my essay, I believe that me and Catherine Watson share some similarities, but we do differ in some ways when it comes to wanderlust, and experiencing different cultures throughout the world. So again this is my conclusion on Where the Road Diverged