From June 2022 –
It’s strange how you can miss something you never did.
Back in more solitary times I used to surf the internet for travel information on some of the more remote or unknown areas of the world using the U.S. State Department Travel Advisory site. One of the places I’d read about was an African state called Eritrea.
On the coast of the Red Sea, bordering Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan, Eritrea stands as an enigma. Rated as the third most oppressive government regarding freedom of press, Eritrea remains quiet to the outside world much like the dictatorial states of Turkmenistan or North Korea. The human rights record is abjectly poor, yet little information is readily available regarding particulars. The population appears to be quite religious, with Christianity and Islam dominant.
In such countries life must take on a unique flavor. With contact from the outside world largely suppressed, an insular quality develops, in part because of the distinctive culture that grows from a society which mostly influences itself.
Travel to such countries fascinates me on many levels, as doing so means much more than just another beach vacation at a resort town. Instead, the whole atmosphere of the place may be completely foreign and unique. And not unique in a wholly good way, either. But nevertheless, unique. How many Americans witness such things?
In the recesses of one’s mind, you can find areas only beknownst to you – areas like my conception of Eritrea, formed on the few facts gathered from a cursory internet search for information on the country. Due to the dangers of visiting these sorts of countries, my only real chance to investigate what life is like in these foreign lands is through such private mental excursions. I used to sit up late and imagine life as an Eritrean, sitting on an overlook in the mountain regions, or walking on the shores on a hot sunny day. The scents of the town in the capital. In these mixes of fact and fiction, between me and God, I would find a sort of respite through investigation of these foreign lands in my mind. Like teleporting somewhere far away in your mind just to be a nameless traveler, watching life as it passes. In this way, the foreign gives roots to the familiar as imagination constructs a new adventure.
The strength of such images can be remarkable should one care to lose themselves. However, when the visions end, one finds his way back to his reality, which has not truly left him behind. Four walls. Time passes on.
Where Words Increase 