I have recently, done a fair chunk of solo travel and that makes you a little selfish in terms of how to approach things.
Travelling more recently with some companions, we ended up doing a few days of my kind of sightseeing - aimlessly wandering around with a hope of getting somewhere interesting. This was in Prague, where I've been before, and although I recognised a lot of it, we saw plenty and walked a lot. At the end of a day of this kind of traipsing around the city, the others were tired (as was I, to be fair) and asked me about how on earth I was able to do this without breaks on trips.
They may not have been the first to do it, but the Barcelona team of the late 2000s were known for keeping the ball for huge periods of time in a match yet they often finished the game fresher and fitter for the next game than the opposition. This flipped on the head the received wisdom of how to expend energy (I know that they were far from the first team to do this, I think of this more of how the terminology around the game was altered) by keeping the ball rotating around the team and barely attacking at points but just resting on the ball. In reality, the resting was less physical than mental but forcing the opposition to run and marshal space was introducing fatigue which they could explore and exploit. Possession was the key and being in charge meant they decided when to exert and when to rest. Others tried to follow the ideals, some more successfully than others but it is probably most closely associated with Barcelona (Football is pretty dynamic, tactically, and since this period, a number of teams have been successful in switching this around and almost resting without the ball in a set defensive position ready to spring. This method is still about the management of exertion).
Travelling more recently with some companions, we ended up doing a few days of my kind of sightseeing - aimlessly wandering around with a hope of getting somewhere interesting. This was in Prague, where I've been before, and although I recognised a lot of it, we saw plenty and walked a lot. At the end of a day of this kind of traipsing around the city, the others were tired (as was I, to be fair) and asked me about how on earth I was able to do this without breaks on trips.
They may not have been the first to do it, but the Barcelona team of the late 2000s were known for keeping the ball for huge periods of time in a match yet they often finished the game fresher and fitter for the next game than the opposition. This flipped on the head the received wisdom of how to expend energy (I know that they were far from the first team to do this, I think of this more of how the terminology around the game was altered) by keeping the ball rotating around the team and barely attacking at points but just resting on the ball. In reality, the resting was less physical than mental but forcing the opposition to run and marshal space was introducing fatigue which they could explore and exploit. Possession was the key and being in charge meant they decided when to exert and when to rest. Others tried to follow the ideals, some more successfully than others but it is probably most closely associated with Barcelona (Football is pretty dynamic, tactically, and since this period, a number of teams have been successful in switching this around and almost resting without the ball in a set defensive position ready to spring. This method is still about the management of exertion).
In travel, what represents resting on the ball? Well, that must be the travel itself. Some of my favourite trips have involved quite a lot of sitting down on trains or boats and soaking in the atmosphere and I think that this is a state of mind. I can't really relax so much on planes but sitting at a window seat on a longer train ride is a joy that allows me to rest and wistfully look outside at rolling landscapes. Why should that be more tiring than sitting and reading outside?
The difference when I am travelling alone is that I rarely rest during the day, I don't feel like I need to stop for a drink and it is only when I want to stop that I stop. With companions, it only needs one to stop for others to. I find this a little like going to a restaurant when you are hungry and ordering more than you can actually eat. I end up walking around when I am beyond the relaxing walk threshold - the incremental effort of walking seems lower than the incremental gain of seeing new things.
I feel like the ideas of resting with the ball can be applied to lots of things not just travel. Maybe it is a good idea to plan ahead so you can coast through the active stage of a project, unthinking your way through to the end. It seems like a perfectly effective way of using your time to productively relax.
As in so many things, a simple conversation in Prague about one thing can lead to ideas about others. Should I be having more simple conversations? Should we all?
As in so many things, a simple conversation in Prague about one thing can lead to ideas about others. Should I be having more simple conversations? Should we all?
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