Sunday at The Experience Music Project

I’ve been to the Experience Music Project only once before and with a very specific goal in mind: see Ernie. The EMP was having a Muppets retrospective. There was a lot of cool early Jim Hensen artwork and two things that made me surprisingly emotional — Ernie and Cookie Monster. They were big and they looked so alive and like such old friends. I wanted to hug them. We didn’t stick around to see the music stuff, though we did detour through the sci-fi collection.

This time, armed with the intention to burn through a comped CityPASS, we went explicitly to see the music archives. There’s a Hendrix exhibit, and one about Nirvana, and the Women Who Rock collection is up as well. Plus, there’s the EMPs spectacular collection of guitars. That National, good lord. So pretty.

I recently completed some research on Seattle’s rock and roll history for a story I was writing for Lonely Planet. I talked to the curator of the Nirvana show, Jacob McMurray. It was fun to chew over 90s Seattle with an expert — I moved here as grunge was just past its peak, I reckon, but the iconic clubs where those band first played were still open. I remember the crowds on the streets outside, my feet sticking to the floor inside these dingy bars. I didn’t see any huge shows — I had no money, and I do mean NO money — but I remember the noise and the scene and the places when they didn’t have shows and the cheap beer at happy hour. It was easy for me to get suckered back into 90s nostalgia again while looking at the 4×6 photo prints and Kurt’s sweater and the other objects on display.

“Everything is archive material,” I thought, and my brain skittered to a drumstick broken by rock DJ Jeff Gilbert when my band played his place, the Feedback Lounge, last winter.  I have it kicking around my office… somewhere. I should probably put it in a climate controlled storage locker, just in case.

EMP also has a Sound Lab where you can play rock star with real instruments, and a stage where you can perform in front of a virtual crowd. You get a poster or a DVD as a souvenir. Though the stage was occupied when we were there — we could see the current “act” on the monitor outside — there was no line. “You want to go do a show?” asked the husband. “Nope,” I said, “I’m good. Plus, you know, I’ve done that. With real people.”

Museum guests performing in Sound Lab. Photo by Nat Seymour of Be Technical Graphics, via EMP.

Now, I’m deeply aware of the relative insignificance of my career as a musician. But as we walked through the Sound Lab, where mostly adults intently focused on the monitors that told them what to do, I felt — as I often do, it seems — like just about the luckiest person alive. I have a music video and an EP and a second CD in the works. I’ve been in the recording studio and played live with my band to a small, but packed to standing room only house. I did not need a hands on museum exhibit to give me a taste of what it means to be a working musician; I have band practice every Monday night.  Maybe it’s different when there are a bunch of kids screwing around in there, having a good time, but everyone I watched was dead serious. I wanted to tell them, “Hey, lighten up! Rock and roll is FUN!” But what do I know — they could have been Real Musicians, not accidental ones like me, just seeing what they’ve got at the EMP and wondering if they should use the same kind of acoustic tile in that unused back bedroom.

My foreign born spouse was unimpressed with the EMP, but I had a good time checking it out. And as you’d expect, the acoustics in there are amazing, everything you hear is crystal clear, sharp, and clean. As we stood in the big open theater area in the lobby, watching music videos and listening to the perfect sound, I wondered one thing only: What’s it like to play in here?

Practical stuff:  The EMP is at Seattle Center. Street parking is free on Sundays, most other days you’ll have to pay or you’ll park a jillion miles away. It’s 20 dollars to get in but if you buy tickets online beforehand, you’ll save a fiver. Because we had CityPASS books, we went up the Space Needleafterwards, too. It’s 19 dollars to go up the Needle; there are no advance discounts. I hear good things about the restaurants associated with the EMP and the nearby Chihuly Museum (which is great, but not part of the CityPASS), but the food court in the Armory building at Seattle Center also has — I’m not making this up — excellent food from some of Seattle’s great local restaurants. Honest. I’ve eaten in the restaurant up the Needle too, it was better and not as expensive as I’d expected it to be, though it’s hardly a bargain.

Travelling Alone

My parents thought I was mad travelling half way across the world on my own, but it was something that I had to do and I came back a different person – more confident, on a complete buzz, and these experiences gave me the passion I have for travel today.

There’s a misconception that travellers who travel alone are lonely people, with no friends, and they don’t want to socialise. Actually, single travellers are adventurous, enjoy their own company, and are confident travellers.

Whilst traveling with friends or organized groups is fairly common, by choice or by necessity many people travel alone. Traveling alone is a unique experience and can be a very rewarding way of traveling, despite a few drawbacks.

Traveling alone is not uncommon and most solo travelers are able to meet other travelers at hostels, bars, organised tours or any place where travelers tend to hang out or congregate

Advantages to traveling alone

• Your time and budget are your own! It's all up to you how much time to spend someplace, what your daily modes of travel will be, etc.

• It's easier to make friends with the locals. Many great opportunities to interact with the locals on a personal level can be found and enjoyed without a friend or other companion.

• More space to make your trip entirely your own. Solo travel can be a great opportunity for reflection and moving at an individual pace. Traveling by yourself, you only have to please yourself.

• You will be far more flexible than non-solo travelers, and may find it easier to cope with unexpected setbacks and complications. There's nobody to blame you for your own gaffes, after all!

Disadvantages to traveling alone

• There's nobody to watch your back. And there's no one to watch the luggage while you go buy train tickets. You have to carry all your gear yourself, which can be both inconvenient and stressful.

• It's more expensive, as there is no one to share costs with. Rooms are usually about the same price for one or for two. You'll need to budget a little bit more.

• You don't have any social obligations.

• You may experience moments of loneliness.

The Experience of Travelling and Learning

When travelling in other countries, we expect to meet different people, see different sights and do different things. However, the most valuable learning that comes from travel is not that we are different, but that we share so many common needs and feelings. Many of my experiences abroad have been gained by staying with families who live in the country that I am visiting.

 When a student first meets their host family, they will feel nervous. They ask questions, such as 'Are they going to like me? Are we going to be able to communicate? Have they got a sense of humour? Will I feel comfortable in their company?' Having hosted students myself, I know that host families are also feeling nervous, and ask themselves the same questions. 'Homestay' experiences can introduce a whole new element into your learning programme - even if it is for a short period before moving on to college or a volunteer programme. The learning that comes from interacting with families of the culture that one is visiting can be so much greater than the learning that is derived from staying in just hotels and hostels. Mixing the type of accommodation can bring a variety of benefits. I have often travelled with groups of young people, and it has been remarkable to see their self-confidence blossom. 

Travelling to new cultures and interacting with strangers teaches one as much about oneself as it does about other people. The challenge of new experiences will push one's personal barriers back. Coping with situations that have not been previously encountered can show you that you are capable of achieving, or succeeding at, so much more than you had thought. Learning about different cultures can teach you things about your own culture - things you had erstwhile neither appreciated nor understood. Spending time with friends from another culture will challenge stereotypes that may be held by both parties. Some of the greatest joys of travel are gleaned from knowing that your preconceptions were wrong.

Many of the opportunities offered through voluntary work/projects can bring you into contact with volunteers from a wide range of countries and cultures. In this circumstance, being in a different country might well allow you to meet, learn and challenge your preconceptions with people from a variety of backgrounds. When travelling, do not only look for the differences - seek the common areas that bring you closer together. Do not expect to learn just about others - revel in the learning that you obtain about yourself!

Author:

Zohaib Nawaz 

 

History Of Travel Literature

Early examples of travel literature include Pausanias' Description of Greece in the 2nd century CE, and the travelogues of Ibn Jubayr (1145–1214) and Ibn Batutta (1304–1377), both of whom recorded their travels across the known world in detail. The travel genre was a fairly common genre in medieval Arabic literature.
One of the earliest known records of taking pleasure in travel, of travelling for the sake of travel and writing about it, is Petrarch's (1304–1374) ascent of Mount Ventoux in 1336. He states that he went to the mountaintop for the pleasure of seeing the top of the famous height. His companions who stayed at the bottom he called frigida incuriositas ("a cold lack of curiosity"). He then wrote about his climb, making allegorical comparisons between climbing the mountain and his own moral progress in life.
Michault Taillevent, a poet for the Duke of Burgundy, travelled through the Jura Mountains in 1430 and left us with his personal reflections, his horrified reaction to the sheer rock faces, and the terrifying thunderous cascades of mountain streams. Antoine de la Sale (c. 1388–c. 1462), author of Petit Jehan de Saintre, climbed to the crater of a volcano in the Lipari Islands in 1407, leaving us with his impressions. "Councils of mad youth" were his stated reasons for going. In the mid 15th century, Gilles le Bouvier, in his Livre de la description des pays, gave us his reason to travel and write:

Because many people of diverse nations and countries delight and take pleasure, as I have done in times past, in seeing the world and things therein, and also because many wish to know without going there, and others wish to see, go, and travel, I have begun this little book.

In 1589, Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616) published Voyages, a foundational text of the travel literature genre.
Other later examples of travel literature include accounts of the Grand Tour. Aristocrats, clergy, and others with money and leisure time travelled Europe to learn about the art and architecture of its past. One tourism literature pioneer was Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894).
Travel literature also became popular during the Song Dynasty (960–1279) of medieval China. The genre was called 'travel record literature' (youji wenxue), and was often written in narrative, prose, essay and diary style. Travel literature authors such as Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and Xu Xiake (1587–1641) incorporated a wealth of geographical and topographical information into their writing, while the 'daytrip essay' Record of Stone Bell Mountain by the noted poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101) presented a philosophical and moral argument as its central purpose.
In the 18th century, travel literature was commonly known as the book of travels, which mainly consisted of maritime diaries.In 18th century Britain, almost every famous writer worked in the travel literature form.Captain James Cook's diaries (1784) were the equivalent of today's best sellers.
Safarnāma or Safarnāmé (Persian: سفرنامه‎), also spelled as safarnameh, is a travel literature written during the 11th century by Nasir Khusraw (1003-1077). It is also known as the Book of Travels and was a work that shaped the future of classical Persian travel writing.

It is an account of Khusraw's seven year journey through the Islamic world. He initially set out on a Hajj, the obligatory Pilgrimage to Mecca. Departing on March 5, 1046, Khusraw took a less than direct route, heading north toward the Caspian Sea. Throughout his travels he kept a minutely detailed journal which clearly describes many facets of life in the Islamic world of the 11th Century.

Nasir Khusraw compiled the Safarnama in a later period of his life, using notes that he had taken along his seven year journey. His prose is straightforward, resembling a travelogue as opposed to his more poetic and philosophical Diwan. Khusraw begins his Safarnama with a description of himself, his life, and his monumental decision to travel to Mecca. He recounts an extraordinary dream in which he converses with a man who encourages him to seek out that which is beneficial to the intellect. Before the dream ends, the man allegedly points towards the qibla and says nothing more. This was the impetus that drove Khusraw to perform the hajj.

In the remaining sections of the Safarnama, Khusraw describes cities and towns along the path of his journey, with particular focus on Mecca, Jerusalem, and Cairo (the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate at the time). Khusraw's work is appreciated for its detailed descriptions of these cities, with precise accounts of civic buildings and markets.

What is Travel literature

Travel literature is travel writing aspiring to literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or may involve travel to different regions within the same country. Accounts of spaceflight may also be considered travel literature.
Literary travelogues generally exhibit a coherent narrative or aesthetic beyond the logging of dates and events as found in travel journals or a ship's log. Travel literature is closely associated with outdoor literature and the genres often overlap with no definite boundaries. Another sub-genre, invented in the 19th century, is the guide book.