What is it about travelling....

....that makes one reveal so much to another person? Was listening to (Sir) Peter Cook's lecture about his studio program, about inhabitable bridges and people living in boats, in vehicles, and hey, the architectural aspects of it was all well and good, but one thing that still stays in my mind now is something he said, along the lines of: What is it about vehicles, about travel, that makes it so special?

(Sir) Peter Cook said, "When you are on a plane, hundreds of miles above the earth, something is different. I've got a friend who normally won't tell me anything on the ground, but I took a flight with him, and in the middle of the flight, he started telling me very personal things that he won't normally reveal!"

Hmm....I don't know how true it is for people in general, but quite recently I found out how true it could be for me. Travelling makes one more receptive, more excited, but also more honest and vulnerable as well. Curious phenomenon, isn't it? And it's not only true for long distance travel, but for shorter ones as well. A lot of information I know about my friends and family, I gained when travelling with them, whether it is on a plane, a train, just MRT and bus from one place in Singapore to another... and even inside lifts!

Wonder why is that so? Some theories:

1.when two people got thrown together in a limited space (e.g. lift, aeroplane seats), with the prospect of spending hours and hours together, more often than not they will talk for the sake of talking..especially if one of them is the type that cannot stand "uncomfortable silence". Now, usually when people talk for a long time, most probably they branch into personal things, especially if they have not known each other very well, because personal, daily things are the things that people most easily relate to. I mean, if I'm on a train journey with a friend I don't usually talk to *for the purpose of illustration, let's pretend this friend is a non-archi friend*, of course I won't start blabbering about Modernism or structural integrity or line qualities..I'll either freak that friend out or bore him/her off... Instead I'll talk about school, family, friends...and who knows where it might lead to! *Note to self: Be more careful when talking about seemingly trivial things.*

2.Travelling provides a lot of stimulus, which means more things to talk about, even between people who have known each other reasonably well. More things to talk to=more time talking, more time talking=more probability of revealing deep hidden secrets! *Note to self again:When you get excited by a new experience...think before you speak!* *Quite difficult for a spontaneous person like me..*

3. Travelling means new places, and more often than not, new atmospheres... and as architects, interior designers, or anybody who study spaces know, ambience can do a lot fo things -alter mood, inject feelings, and subtly encourage people to do things they don't normally do, or say things they don't normally say...*Need to make some more note to self...Since it seems I am greatly affected by this...Haih....*

Oh well,should try to be more aware of the relations between things like this and human behaviour...*especially my own...*, but yeah, that's why I love to study architecture..cuz it makes me more and more sensitized to things I don't usually notice.

Ow, and the next time you wanna get to know a friend better, schedule a lunch to somewhere far from both your houses, and use the journey well!