Talking with Jeff Greenwald
A while back, I was lucky enough to interview Jeff Greenwald, my personal idol in the world of travel writing. He's as good as it gets, and every one of his stories amazes me with its generosity and humor.
The interview appeared in Motionsickness magazine, but here's a little piece of it, something everybody should know:
JG: I think there are two ways to look at the world we live in. One is the view you get when you’re in your living room staring at the evening news, and from that perspective you almost feel like that Steinberg cartoon, where the nearest town is over the horizon, and a place like Iran is light years away.
The other way is to look at the earth like you’re in a space capsule. I think of the earth as a tiny, tiny place, a dot floating in this vastness. It always astonishes me how similar people are to each other all over the world. The way I put myself on good terms with a Palestinian in Hebron, or an Iranian in Shiraz, or a Moor in Mauritania, or a ranger in the White Mountains of Alaska, it’s all very much the same. It just involves a certain kindness, vulnerability, and a willingness to look them in the eye and treat them with respect. These things are not hard to do, and with these tools, the world becomes a very small place, and accessible to anybody.
I had a teacher once in India, who we affectionately called Papaji, and I’ll never forget something he did. A woman came to him with a question, saying, "I have a terrible fear of dogs, and it’s really affecting my ability to stay in India. What do you suggest?" He didn’t say anything, but the next day, he bought her a puppy.
By the same token, there’s no way the world is ever going to become less scary to someone who isn’t willing to leave home. But the minute you go out into it, you’ll realize it’s a place that will lick your face if you treat it kindly.
The most profound thing I ever wrote is the last line of the introduction to Scratching the Surface: "If there is anything I have learned in my travels, it is this: we must learn to ask for help when we need it, and offer help where it is needed. Once we have mastered this, the entire world will be open to us all."
The interview appeared in Motionsickness magazine, but here's a little piece of it, something everybody should know:
JG: I think there are two ways to look at the world we live in. One is the view you get when you’re in your living room staring at the evening news, and from that perspective you almost feel like that Steinberg cartoon, where the nearest town is over the horizon, and a place like Iran is light years away.
The other way is to look at the earth like you’re in a space capsule. I think of the earth as a tiny, tiny place, a dot floating in this vastness. It always astonishes me how similar people are to each other all over the world. The way I put myself on good terms with a Palestinian in Hebron, or an Iranian in Shiraz, or a Moor in Mauritania, or a ranger in the White Mountains of Alaska, it’s all very much the same. It just involves a certain kindness, vulnerability, and a willingness to look them in the eye and treat them with respect. These things are not hard to do, and with these tools, the world becomes a very small place, and accessible to anybody.
I had a teacher once in India, who we affectionately called Papaji, and I’ll never forget something he did. A woman came to him with a question, saying, "I have a terrible fear of dogs, and it’s really affecting my ability to stay in India. What do you suggest?" He didn’t say anything, but the next day, he bought her a puppy.
By the same token, there’s no way the world is ever going to become less scary to someone who isn’t willing to leave home. But the minute you go out into it, you’ll realize it’s a place that will lick your face if you treat it kindly.
The most profound thing I ever wrote is the last line of the introduction to Scratching the Surface: "If there is anything I have learned in my travels, it is this: we must learn to ask for help when we need it, and offer help where it is needed. Once we have mastered this, the entire world will be open to us all."
posted by e. Readicker-Henderson at 10:58 PM
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