"Santa Barbara Suffers From Charlize Theron Syndrome..." and Other Pico Iyer Memories Helping Me Through the Quarantine

I can't be the only one feeling antsy to get back to it.  I'd say "back to reality," but it's becoming increasingly clear that the post-COVID "normal" won't be all that normal at all, at least not at first, or for awhile.

That applies to travel, of course. Part of me finds that unfortunate, because I'm missing the ease, the frequency and the rhythm of travel that was so familiar just a few weeks ago. Then again, travel after the pandemic will be more hygienic, not to mention more flexible and more affordable.

At the end of the day, no matter what the new travel "normal" is -- sign me up! I'm ready to go!

Pico Iyer speaking in Santa Barbara in 2016

In the meantime, I'm finding a few pearls of wisdom from Pico Iyer helpful. The novelist whose travel essays have inspired wanderlust in so many of us for decades was the keynote speaker at Visit Santa Barbara's annual Tourism Luncheon in 2016. As he spoke, I remember feverishly jotting down a plethora of thoughtful nuggets that, even today, remind me of the power of travel to transform. There's a timelessness to many of Iyer's ideas, which makes me think that regardless of how differently we travel post-pandemic, the need to travel, and all the benefits it offers us, will persevere.

A few of my favorite Iyer quotes from that beautiful May afternoon, on the beach, in Montecito:

·       "Santa Barbara suffers from Charlize Theron Syndrome: it's so gorgeous, it's easy to underestimate its depth, talent and sophistication."

·        "A destination is much less important than the eyes we bring to it.”

·        "These days, people are so bombarded by information that what they're aching for is liberation.”

·        "These days, you have to go to the ends of the earth to do nothing at all."

·        "One of the great riches of Santa Barbara are the tourists, who open the eyes of the locals, who in turn open the eyes of their neighbors."

·        "It takes someone visiting our town to remind us of the treasure we're sitting on."

·        "Luxury is a function of scarcity.  Nowadays, that's simply having a lot of time... and being able to let one's mind off the leash.”

·        "If there's one place for which the notion of the staycation should have been invented, it's Santa Barbara."

·        “We travel not to leave our homes but to leave our habits.  It's about what I call the three 'trans:' transport, transcendence, transformation."

Another beautiful day in Santa Barbara

Find out more about Pico Iyer here.

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