国家地理:为什么旅行是一项基本的人类活动(2)

（单词翻译）

We are an adaptive species. We can tolerate brief periods of forced sedentariness. A dash of self-delusion helps.

我们是适应力强的物种。我们能够忍受短时间无法移动。一点自我催眠是有帮助的。

We're not grounded, we tell ourselves. We're merely between trips, like the unemployed¹ salesman in between opportunities.

我们告诉自己并没有被禁足，只是处于两次旅程之间，就像失业的销售员只是在等待下一个机会。

We pass the days thumbing though old travel journals and Instagram feeds. We gaze at souvenirs. All this helps. For a while.

我们靠翻阅旧旅行日志和滑Instagram动态消磨日子。我们盯着旅游纪念品出神。这些都有帮助，至少一阵子。

The travel industry is hurting. So are travelers.

旅游业受到重创，旅人也很痛苦。

"I dwelled so much on my disappointment that it almost physically² hurt," Paris-based journalist Joelle Diderich told me recently, after canceling five trips last spring.

住在巴黎的记者乔埃乐·迪德里奇，光是去年春天就取消了五个行程，她跟我说：“我一直沉溺于失望当中，几乎连身体都真的痛起来了。”

My friend James Hopkins is a Buddhist³ living in Kathmandu.

我的朋友詹姆斯·霍普金斯是住在尼泊尔加德满都的佛教徒。

You'd think he'd thrive during the lockdown, a sort-of mandatory⁴ meditation⁵ retreat. For a while he did.

想象中他在封城期间应该可以怡然自得，就像参加一次不能不去的禅修避静。有一阵子他确实如此。

But during a recent Skype call, James looked haggard and dejected.

但是我最近一次跟詹姆斯Skype通话时，他看起来憔悴低落。

He was growing restless, he confessed, and longed "for the old 10-countries-a-year schedule." Nothing seemed to help, he told me.

他坦承自己越来越坐立不安，想念“之前一年跑十个国家的行程表。”他说似乎做什么都无济于事。

"No matter how many candles I lit, or how much incense⁶ I burned, and in spite of living in one of the most sacred places in South Asia, I just couldn't change my habits."

“不管点多少蜡烛或烧多少香，就算是住在南亚数一数二的神圣地方，我还是改变不了习惯。”

When we ended our call, I felt relieved, my grumpiness validated⁷. It's not me; it's the pandemic.

跟他聊完后，我松了口气，觉得我的躁动不安有理有据：问题不在我，而是疫情。

But I also worried. If a Buddhist in Kathmandu is going nuts, what hope do the rest of us stilled souls have?

但同时我也感到忧虑。假使连加德满都的佛教徒都快抓狂，我们这些不安于室的凡夫俗子还能有什么希望？