Boldly Go Solo

I just put the movie "Bloody Sunday" on my Netflix list. (Clearly, this is not going to be your typical St. Patrick's Day green-beer travel story.)

The movie is a docu-drama about a massacre of unarmed civilian demonstrators in the Catholic Bogside district of Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1972. And, according to the review, "the event has been blamed for turning peaceful dissent into two decades of civil war, and inspiring thousands of young men to join the IRA."
 
After reading recently about the movie–and this is where the travel part comes in–I realized I don't know as much about this event as I'd like. Because I visited Northern Ireland in 2007, including Derry, I now find myself wanting to become more educated about how some of the worst strife started. Even more than a year later.

This is what travel does. It opens your eyes to things you might not have paid close attention to before.

The same thing happened during my college days. After spending my junior year in England, and traveling around Europe between terms, I became enamored of Italian art. When I returned my senior year, I took an entire year of art survey courses, excited to learn more about what I'd seen abroad.

Often I was able to envision where that art was made, or is now hung, in European museums. And that made those courses three-dimensional and pulled me in more than they might have otherwise.

Some people have always loved reading about history and culture. I guess I'm one of those people who needs to "touch." Once I visit a country, I'm forever interested in learning more about it. From the news. From books. From movies.

When I watch Bloody Sunday," not only will I be interested in the story but I will also keep my eyes peeled for places I might have been in Derry/Londonderry (what you call it depends on your political perspective.)

That added depth of experience about history and the world is what keeps me traveling. Whether someone's willing to join me on any given trip, or not.

Oh, and um, happy St. Patty's Day.

Photos: Ellen Perlman.
The walled city of Derry