Nothing/Everything

I'm sat on the top deck of a busy ferry in Rhodes Town harbour waiting to depart for a day trip to the nearby island of Symi. In front of me an old couple are sharing and discussing their hand-written diary notes between themselves. They are Swedish so I can't understand the writing but it looks like dates and diary entries to my failing eyes. 

The lighthouse at Saint Nicholas Fortress

It strikes a chord with me for several reasons. One, it's nice to see other people planning and documenting their adventures, I always keep a journal of my holiday exploits, on which I base this blog. Two, it's hand-written and there is still some romance left in the written word as far as I'm concerned. And finally, three, I thought who will read this? Will it be passed onto their siblings, grandchildren, or maybe they are aspiring authors or poets (or hugely famous ones) taking notes for their next blockbuster novel. Or perhaps they both get comfort in putting down on paper their experiences and no-one will see them apart from each other, which is good enough for me. 

But I find myself at the stage of my life where leaving a legacy is starting to nag at me in the back of my mind. What will I leave behind? Who will read my journal?

The Theatre at the Acropolis of Rhodes

I mention this to my wife later as we stroll around the beautiful hills of Symi, and before I can disappear down any pompous tunnel channelling delusional thoughts of self importance, she quotes from Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

"Not quite sure of her direction, Tess stood still upon the hemmed expanse of verdant flatness, like a fly on a billiard-table of indefinite length, and of no more consequence to the surroundings than that fly."

And there was the answer. You do it for yourself, your loved ones and friends. And maybe one or two similarly-minded travelling folks. Because in the big scheme of things we are the fly on the billiard ball. So the least we can do for our brief twinkle on this Earth is be nice to ourselves and each other. And if one person gets an idea from my travel recommendations or feels inspired by a photograph, job done. 

The pleasure comes from taking the photographs and documenting our adventures, as the old couple on the boat obviously still thoroughly enjoyed doing. Maybe they would have written something like this about their trip to Rhodes...

Sculpture at the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes