MAGAN'S WORLD:Manchán Magan's tales of a travel addict
I WAS ON A domestic flight in Africa recently when we got buffeted by a freak gust of wind as we were coming in to land and the aircraft pitched to one side, the tip of the wing almost brushing the tarmac before bouncing level again. My life didn't quite flash before me, but in the hour that followed my mind kept replaying the sight of the wing hovering centimetres above the ground and the repercussions of what might have happened had it made contact. It got me thinking about my years of travel, what, if anything, I had learned and what, if I had to do it all over again, I would like to tell myself.
Primarily, I suppose, it would be not to be frightened. Travel used to petrify me. I went away because I had to, because the thought of staying home amid the claustrophobia of this island was unbearable. I was afraid to go away but more afraid of the feeling of alienation and suffocation if I stayed. My stomach would be in knots every time I approached Dublin Airport.
Now, looking back, I wish I could have told myself to trust the world more, to believe that if I threw myself wholeheartedly into it it would take care of me. I know for certain now that this is the case. I just wish I could have known back then. Granted, it appears to go against all reason to think that if you cut yourself free of your home support network, and dive into the unknown, everything will work out, but it does; somehow it does. Of course, one needs to maintain a degree of common sense - something that is frequently lacking in travellers, particularly that class of young Irish person for whom travelling equates to getting drunk in exotic locations.
So number one is to trust the world, but not to a foolish extent. The second tip to my younger self would be to do some research, to know a little bit about where you're going - even just where you plan to stay the first night and how you're going to get from the airport or bus station. It will make you less scared. Also, it's definitely true that the more you know about the history and culture of a place the more you get out of it - and the less likely you are to end up doing something foolish in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not advocating overpreparation. True travel has no place for fixed schedules; there needs to be room for serendipity. But preparedness and openness to change are not mutually exclusive: the more informed you are the easier it is to choose between opportunities that may arise. A foreigner arriving at Busáras could find himself invited to a GAA match or to a GRA conference or having to choose between the Willie Clancy Summer School and a Willie Walsh fundraiser, and his holiday would be significantly coloured by the choices he made.
My third tip for my younger self would be to try to cultivate an optimistic outlook, to roll with the setbacks and not to get lost in the fears and uncertainty that inevitably arise when you throw yourself into the unknown. The key is to try to keep things in perspective, to know that it is all transitory and that sooner or later you'll be back in your humdrum home and predictable existence.
Whether the experience you're having is good or bad, it's most likely a once-in-a- lifetime thing, and you owe it to yourself to get the most out of it.
That's about all I've amassed in terms of wisdom so far. With luck I've another few decades of travel ahead and will pick up a few more tips along the way.
• manchan@ ireland.com