Boston: A Study in Foreignness
I went to Boston for the first time last fall. It was the first time I’d ever gone to another city and state without a purpose and without knowing anyone. Companionship adds a whole new dimension to travel. It’s not Boston that was foreign to me - it was the experience of getting there.
As I planned the trip, I thought it would be a great opportunity to walk real-time through the physical and emotional aspects of traveling to a place that was, for all I knew, as foreign as another country.
Character Questions:
Is your character willingly traveling or have they been taken by force to another place?
Is the culture and language the same?
How different is this new place from where your character grew up or has been living?
Are they comfortable traveling?
Phase 1: Anticipation
When it finally sunk in that I was actually going to Boston, I started getting very, very nervous. This manifested as the inability to fall asleep and then not sleeping well when I did sleep. I had a hard time focusing the last few days before I had to get in my car and drive off. Lots of procrastination was involved.
I have traveled in bits and pieces so I know how to travel but I don’t do it enough to feel comfortable. Once I’m in the car and I’m on my way, I’m fine. It’s the sense of anticipation and dread.
I made myself a packing list so I knew what I needed to bring. I also know I don’t eat much when I travel and I hardly drink anything so I don’t have to find a rest stop.
The drive was about four and half hours from Binghamton, NY through the state capital of Albany, out to Greenfield, MA, which was my first stop and original destination. The plan was to spend a day and a half there, then drive about two hours to a train station outside of Boston. I’d park the car in overnight parking for three days and take the train into downtown historic Boston. Once there, I would emerge from the underground and walk several blocks to my hotel.
Now, I’ve done all of those steps before but this was my first time doing them all, and doing them all alone.
I expected Boston to be both foreign and familiar. I’ve been to big cities. I’ve been to foreign cities. It’s just a matter of prospective.
The anticipation stage manifests differently in everybody.
Apprehensive. Doubt. Concern. Fear. Your mind starts spinning about all the things that can go wrong. What’s going to happen? Do I have everything ready? What if I forget something? I’ve never done this before. And you start thinking about lies, and you end up making it worse.
I find when I get nervous or apprehensive, I stammer. I play with my fingers. I crack my knuckles. I drink water. I feel distracted and feel like I can’t work on anything else. I get that queasy, almost shaky feeling. Jittery feeling. I don’t get hungry.
Character Questions:
How does your character physically and emotionally respond to the journey?
What repeated behaviors show up under stress?
Phase 2: Acceptance
The traveling itself was fine. I committed to it and there was no turning back. I was going. Acceptance for me was a change in thinking. Instead of anxiety and borrowing fears, I was saying to myself things like:
I’ll enjoy the scenery.
The hills are beautiful here.
The highway is easy to drive.
I love seeing the clouds.
Look at all the colors in the trees.
I’m not nervous.
I had this “I’ll conquer it all” feeling - because I hadn’t reached my destination.
Character Thoughts:
Keep those in mind when writing travel, and not just going somewhere new or different. It all depends on the personality your character has. If they are adventurous and they’ve done this dozens of times before, this will be very routine and tiresome or exhilarating (because this is what they enjoy doing).
For the most part, if they don’t travel, especially if they are being taken somewhere they don’t want to go, that makes it more tricky. They’re going to wrestle with this sense of acceptance along the way - they’re committed to the travel, they’re going to have to face it. You can have that sense of dread with each day passing. Or they can take a deep breath and say “I’m committed. I’ll deal with the outcome when I get there.”
Examine your characters and their situation and know that there are emotional stage and sensory stages of traveling. Especially if they’ve never traveled before. For example, someone who has never been in a train before will be in awe of how trains work (the sights, sounds, motions, people). The same for anything else - car, space ship, wagon, underground tunnel, portal.
Character Questions:
Is your character the one navigating and managing all the details or are they getting blindly taken somewhere and they don’t know where?
Do they pay attention to their surroundings?
Mode of transportation - do they get seasick/airsick/motion-sick/space-sick? What do they do to relieve that?
Are there other people traveling with them to talk to, make friends with, captors, military?
Phase 3: Arrival
If you’re like me, finally arriving both relieves stress and adds a new layer. The trip is over but now there is another set of steps to work through to reach the place you will be staying. Where is that? A hotel, a friend’s house, a prison, a mansion, the slums?
Character Thoughts:
Each journey is a series of steps.
Transportation, if different from the primary journey, need to be arranged.
Collect your luggage.
Collect your friends, family, kids, traveling companions.
Say goodbye, say hello, greet those coming to meet you.
Get directions.
Check your map.
Read the road signs. Signs can be in different colors and locations than you are used to. Road marking can be different too.
Phase 4: Adapting
For someone who doesn’t travel much (or at all) everyday things take on a new level of confusion.
Ever stayed at a hotel or a friend’s house? Everything is there, just different. You feel out of place.
The carpet feel different under your bare feet.
The shower handle is different.
Where are the light switches?
The sun comes through the window differently in the morning.
Sounds and smells affect you differently.
The bed is bigger, smaller, lumpier, harder. The pillows are fluffy or hard. Not enough, too many.
Coffee maker, TV, hair dryer.
Everything is just different enough that you have to pause before you use it and figure out how it works.
Everything around you is foreign.
Character Thoughts:
Some people adapt easily and move on. Others don’t.
Add another layer of foreign - you don’t speak the same language.
Or another layer - you’re not the same species and have different needs.
Phase 5: Appreciation
Once you’ve been there for some time, your adaptation moves into appreciation. This can be hours for some situations and people, or years for others. Depends entirely on what the desired outcome is.
Appreciation can look like many things.
Everyday objects are no longer consciously thought about.
Routines are established. You ease up and relax, enjoying more aspects of the new location.
