Tag Archives: travel

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The Wellcome Collection in London

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We visited the Wellcome Collection cafe and shop on the recommendation of a friend, who knew we would be in the St Pancras area of London on a Thursday evening. It was a calming, wonderful surprise.

The cafe sits in the large, open ground floor of the building. It’s airy and bright, with fresh, delicious food and hot drinks being served from a counter along one side. We made our choices and then sat and ate in the peaceful space. It was full, but not crowded and the mood relaxed.

After our meal we walked around the shop, lingering in the large book section with its strong medical, environmental, health and well-being feel. The mix was interesting, and felt different to anywhere I had been before.

It was only on the way out that I noticed the gentleman above hanging suspended over the entrance hall. I have no idea what he was doing there.

(If you are in the St Pancras area I highly recommend a visit to the Wellcome Collection. It feels like the sort of space where there would always be something to explore. It is a short walk from Euston Square underground station)

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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The meaning of travel and adventure

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“She travelled on the edge of the edge itself.” Ethel Crowley about Dervla Murphy

Today I heard a mountaineer and expedition leader being asked if travel and adventure were still possible. He replied that they were, and the interviewer then went into detail about the adventurer’s various trips. I was impressed, but not in the way I am when I read of Dervla Murphy’s exploits.

Ethel Crowley is the editor of the recently published book Life at Full Tilt – The Selected Writings of Dervla Murphy. I have almost finished the book and my mind is out on stalks. How did Dervla Murphy survive her travels?

This is not to say that travel has to involve terrifying ascents, or being mugged by children in Albania, but it does seem to be part of what extreme travellers do, and Dervla Murphy was one of those. Truly extraordinary resilience, as well as such good ‘being there in the moment’ and ‘looking at others’ skills. She did the extraoardinary and the ordinary, from Bradford to faraway Siberia, and met the locals wherever she could, showing us herself and others, so we could think about ourselves.

That to me is real travel. It doesn’t have to be Everest. All you have to do is step outside your front door and start really looking. Life is the big adventure.

(The photograph above is of part of the press release that Eland Publishing sent me with the copy of Life at Full Tilt.)

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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To travel or not to travel?

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Today I met a young man who I assumed had travelled. He looked the type – a man who knew himself. He was relaxed, neither rich nor poor, and clearly happy in the company of others whoever they were.

We got talking. Our starting point was who was from where, and what what. He was a Londoner. Born in London. Schooled in London. Living in London. Working in London. Never going to leave London. It sounded as though his family had been stitched to the city for generations, and he loved it with a passion.

The conversation made me wonder – if you live in a big city full of the world, is there any need to travel? He seemed so rooted and at ease, and, as he said himself, one of the lucky ones because he fell out of school into a job he loved and hasn’t wanted to go anywhere since. So why travel? I looked at him and couldn’t think of a reason.

It was only right at the end of our chat that he told me he was about to go to the Far East for a holiday.

I was glad to hear he’d have that experience, but as I walked away into the strangely warm October day I wondered if his trip would unsettle him. I hoped it wouldn’t. Or, if it did, only in a good way.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023