Observing

Observing

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Walking around Carnac yesterday, filming some video for my ‘stones’ tour, we came across some beautiful places. In amongst the grasses, and the stones, was a tree trunk... just an ordinary tree trunk.. I’ve walked past It before and ignored it, but my wife, Toni, yelled out and asked me to stop walking as she took this gorgeous photo...   I’ll never walk past that tree again. She captured the moment and I was able to understand my surroundings a little more thanks to her photo.

Travel is a career for me, and sometimes I feel like I’m becoming jaded or tired of it. The constant packing and unpacking, always having to look ahead and motivate others to enjoy and understand what it is they are looking at, can be exhausting. Yes, there is always the reward of seeing their eyes light up ( I’m an ‘eyes’ person), as they realise or learn something new...  but sometimes, I just want to be in the moment myself.  The second photo, was one such moment. I had been busy, filming and narrating a short video clip, and as we turned the corner, this gorgeous wall and gate appeared.   So what?, I hear some of you say. I actually gave myself the 3 or 4 seconds that I needed to absorb what I was looking at. A 17thC gateway to a noblemans house, judging by the motif above the arch. Beyond the gate I could see the slate rooftop of what had become ( after the French Revolution ?) an abbey or monastery. The driveway, meandered off into Carnacs Neolithic stone alignments. ...    It took me 3 seconds to largely understand and enjoy this building.

My fatigue and exhaustion lifted and I’m sure that a light had appeared in my eyes as I learnt something new about this area.     

A good guide will try to explain what they see, not as a lecture, but as a conversation. A tour shouldn’t be a series of long winded talks, but a constant trickle of information and insight. A good guide will teach you to understand what they see, as they do, ...by observation.

Whenever you travel....... stop.... look..... listen.... and try to understand what you see.😘

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