Americans Abroad
Basic Space
The accomplished Starfleet captains of the USS Enterprise in the TV show Star Trek note that space is the final frontier. The future is all about space. Life is all about space. Science and art are all about space.
Most aspects of travel relate to space in one form or another ‐ the length of your journey, the distance you cover, the volume available in your backpack, the fluctuating physical and emotional space that exists between people and relationships, expanding and collapsing instantly ‐ sometimes without warning.
What has become more and more obvious to me is that travel doesn’t necessarily mean crossing oceans, navigating deserts or waiting for the snow to melt so you can traverse that mountain pass. Travel can be regional or even local. Leave the loud and steamy urban jungle for fresh air, rural rolling hills and coastlines that make you feel alive because it’s amazing what a simple day trip outside of the city can do for your mental health.
Being stuffed in someone’s armpit on the metro at rush hour with a saxophone blaring in my ear or cramming in the back of a cargo van with thousands of dollars worth of filmmaking equipment, a couple of goofy English actors and a cheap bottle of scotch screaming through North London are things I don’t recall happening at home in North Carolina.
But not everything has gotten smaller. In the mid 1800s when Napoleon III commissioned Baron Haussmann to modernise Paris, his approach was to more effectively utilise space. The uniform building heights now lend themselves to expansive aerial views of billowing cloud sculptures, impressionist sunsets and epic vistas while giving a person a true sense of place among the architecture. Vast, wide avenues combined with planned parks and green space turned Paris from a politically motivated city to socially inspired one. The result ‐ an aesthetically pleasing and exciting place to be.
Parisian culture is steeped in seeing and being seen. In the early 17th century, the first bridge built linking the left and right bank of the River Seine was the social crossroads of the city. Anybody who thought they were anybody was seen right there ‐ on the Pont Neuf. Politicians, thieves, jugglers, judges, artists, rogues, whores and merchants milled together, coexisting in the public space. Every café in Paris has outdoor seating facing the streets and squares, allowing the storied history of the scene to unfold before your eyes. The grand staircase in the Opera Garnier served as a stage in its own right, where the noblest of women would perch, showing off their chic attire and glamorous fashions to the cultured world.
Living in Paris has deconstructed and rebuilt my concept of space. I’m far away from friends and family. I don’t have a back yard or a front porch. I zip around on trains, bikes and planes like I couldn’t stand to sit still. Surely you’ve heard stories of closet sized flats, with dorm room style refrigerators stuffed away in old maid quarters ‐ high on the seventh floor, with no elevator. Of course these places exist but what happens when Aladdin and Abu climb to the top of their building and whip back that crummy sheet curtain? He’s got the best view in Agrabah.
I now see the whole of Paris as my neighborhood ‐ the parks are my lawns and the city streets are my playgrounds. Individual yards where people hide away from the rest of the world have been replaced by large public spaces full of interesting characters and exciting prospects. Of course if you’d like to get lost in a secluded grove you can, but even if you sit out in the open in a moose costume, it’s more than likely that no one will pay you any attention. This seems to be a trend in most of the world’s alpha cities. Interaction happens out in the world rather than in the private sectors ‐ in special areas that intrigue regulars, foreigners, locals and aliens alike. This interaction also taps into the magic of places such as the Champ du Mars, Pont des Arts and Canal St. Martin where the spring of life is ever flowing.
Abroad you may have to rethink space, inward and out. Great reward comes with sacrifice. Discover new ways of seeing and make Starfleet proud. Go, Patient Romeo ‐ explore the space, get close and make some first contact.
‐ Ned Phillips
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