Imagine a world...

I started my day with the magic of Chow. I’ve been meaning to write about this place since I first ate here a few months ago. Bend is home to all kinds of great restaurants, and Chow is hands-down one of my favorites. The restaurant is an old converted home, and the food is always fresh, local and imaginative. It’s not pretentious, though it has every right to be. The service is super friendly and welcoming.

In an attempt to burn off some of the delicious tamales, goat cheese, eggs and potatoes, I headed up the mountain for some snowshoeing. It was snowing lightly as I pulled into the parking lot, strapped on my shoes, and hit the trail. Although the parking lot was pretty full, the trail was nearly deserted, which was great. There’s nothing quite like being in miles and miles of fresh, untouched snow, where even the trees hold their breath for fear of disturbing the silence.

The day ended with more magic, watching The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I wouldn’t normally go to, or write about, a movie like this, but as I watched, I was struck by the strong link between imagination and travel.

In the movie, various characters are swept away into the imaginarium, where they experienced any number of worlds, from light and beautiful to dark and foreboding. It occurred to me that these worlds, although more fantastic and Hollywoodized, could be found anywhere in the real world, depending upon your perception. One traveler may visit a place and see rainbows, while another traveler may visit the exact same place and see only storm clouds. The world conforms to the lens through which you view it.

Another theme, indirectly related to the movie, has been on my mind for the past few days. That is, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who do things, and those who watch others do things. In an attempt to not sound too Randian, I’ll only focus on travel, but it certainly applies to the world on a larger scale.

I’m sure you’ve all known armchair travelers who have explored the world without ever leaving their home. These are usually the people who talk about all the places they want to go, and may ramble off some random statistics, but they never actually seize the opportunity to make it happen. These people tend to have large cable bills. Then there are the people who just do it, no matter how uncomfortable, impossible, or pricey it seems. They understand that if you can imagine it, you can do it. These people live, not watch.

What kind of traveler are you?