TRAVEL | READING TIP

Flâneuring With a Book in Hand

Mature Flâneur — a traveler’s book review

Sitting on the grassy shoreline of Lake Dunstan I turned a page reading about the beautifully described vineyards in the Duoro valley remembering I was here, in another wine lover's country, and yet had to go on a wine tasting.

I'm honest with you. This has been the first book I picked up for years. It should be about four years as I'm coming up on my fifth year on Medium and while I love the community out here, ignore the haters and those who only come to complain, I settled in to stay.

I made myself comfy, built a small but reciprocal and supportive community around my travel and life essays and adore all the passionate photographers surrounding the publications I am part of.

And yet, all of this had one negative side. With all the writing but especially the reading I did and still do on Medium, I neglected the habit of reading books. Paperbacks.

I might never have been or become the kind of reading rat my mom or sister is, but I did enjoy a good book and if I was caught in a series I enjoyed, I inhaled those books. In a way, I now inhale good Medium stories.

This was how I stumbled upon a fellow Globetrotter and writer on this platform spending his retirement flâneuring the world as he describes it together with his wife.

And when I happened to learn he wasn't just an online writer but a published author as well, I put my name on the pre-order list for his latest travel book.

Mature Flâneur

Being myself in the process of turning some of my online articles from Medium and my WordPress blog into a series of books, I was interested in his published piece on many levels.

When I received the book, I grabbed my hammock, a pillow and a bottle of water and crawled out of the trailer we lived in last summer in Germany to make myself comfortable at the edge of the forest.

While listening to the chirping of birds in the forest, and seeing giant hares graze next to native deer in the meadow, I turned pages and read about Tim's early adventures as a flâneur. Those I hadn't read yet on Medium as I only found him this year on the platform.

This book covers the adventures of the married couple starting in late 2021 and stretching for an entire year. And most importantly, it teaches about flâneuring and all the stages of it.

"Flâneur is one of those lovely, elusive French words that has no real equivalent in English. 'To wander without purpose, observing society' captures only what it looks like on the surface." — Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur (Page 7)

His enthralling and informative narrative transported me to the in azulejos-covered (painted tiles) buildings within the first few pages. I learned about the ancient art form and the author's incredibly attentive eyes scanning the city of Lison for any interesting finds.

"Teresa tells me her parents, who lived in Lisbon when she was a child, used to carry boxes of azulejos back to the US every time they visited the old country. Her father tiled their walls, tables, countertops, backsplashes, even their porch. As Teresa so aptly told me, azulejos are 'an unmistakable expression of the Portuguese soul, a love of art that reaches into your hearts.’" — Tim (Page 12)

Which brings me to the next topic. Teresa, his beloved wife as he calls her admiringly is very much part of this book as the conversations between her and Tim are often the best parts of a chapter you'll read.

They are authentic, real and very entertaining.

Not that I wasn't pulled into his book but I soon fell back onto Medium and his 2023 adventures to Mongolia and then New Zealand, a country I dreamt of visiting.

But when the couple moved in the book to their next flâneuring lesson, as he calls it, on the streets of Paris, I loaded the car together with David and headed to a spontaneous 'flâmotoring' holiday in Czechia, as Tim would have described it.

With no destination in mind and a day-to-day mindset, we flâneured very much ourselves, hiking through lost mountains and staying on abandoned campsites. Just to return to our car in the evening and curl up in a warm blanket while picking up that book again.

The summer came and went with a lot more rain, less motivation to work on my own book and heavy mood swings. Until something unbelievable happened. That job offer from New Zealand, the one I had given up already, came through.

So while the up-to-date Tim was writing on Medium about being snowed in at Mt. Cook and other adventures down under, I got excited about following his footsteps and spending the European winter in New Zealand.

Packing the bags for our move across the globe was more challenging than ever. Not that we travel with many clothes but from skydiving equipment which are our work tools, to hiking gear and a handful of other sports items, there was not enough space in our suitcases. The 'maybe pile' was soon disregarded and David kept pulling out more 'unnecessary' items.

With my intention of getting back into reading books, I had packed two of which David was now holding in his hands saying I could only take one with me. I didn't hesitate and placed the 'Mature Flâneur' back into the suitcase.

And this is how it happened that Tim's words of his first adventures captured in a book now followed his latest adventures across New Zealand. And this was how I found myself reading about Tim and Teresa flâneuring through the vineyards in the Duoro Valley in Portugal while I was in wine country down under.

Sneaking the book into the already loaded hiking backpack, I pulled it out when we arrived in the remoteness of the Matukituki Valley and continued reading about the unexpected beauty of Lake Como, in Italy, Tim and Teresa encountered.

"We took a 20-minute stroll into the heart of Varenna and absolutely fell in love with it. From the twelfth-century church in the main square, steep streets dropped to a little beach lined with cute cafés and galeterias." — Tim (Page 96)

The booked traveled with me to Haast on the West Coast and spent Christmas Day on a peaceful Lake not far from Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s tallest. I had forgotten to take a picture of it in front of Lake Poaka where we stayed that night and took a shot of it out of the car window as we were leaving camp still having the Southern Alps in the background.

Tim reached a different part of Europe by now. I was reading about their struggles of getting a rental car and eventually heading North. Did you know their favorite lunch was somewhere on a lone road in northern Norway?

"We stopped for lunch by the roadside with not a building in sight. All we had to eat in the car was salt and vinegar potato chips, a bag of cherries, and a half bottle of Vinho Verde. Not much of a menu, but flâneurs adapt. Seated on a couple of rocks in the sunshine, surrounded by snow and the chocolate-brown rubble hills, this was one of the most memorable meals of our trip." - Tim (P.157)

I took up speed with the flow of these two wanderers and reached their peak time in flâneuring as they arrived back in Portugal. Visiting places marked as a scenic route and freaking out Mary Margaret as they called the 'delightfully optimistic-sounding Irish' voice of the Apple map app since they mostly ignored her directions, I admired the way these two drove through the mountains.

"So we also use an old-school paper map of Portugal with the 'green roads' marked that show scenic byways. Whenever there's a greener option, we take it, much to Mary Margaret's distress." - Tim (Page 291)

And while I sit on this remote beach of Lake Manapouri and read the lines of how these two finish their first year of flâneuring and reflect on the past month, I realize how much I can relate to their experiences.

Tim talks about returning 'home'. Visiting friends and family who greet one with the dreaded 'how was it' all of us long-term travelers turn blank and silent. How should one respond with everything in mind you experienced in 12 months away?

But Tim refers to the importance of reconnecting, re-engaging, and most importantly reflecting after such an adventure. Even if all that comes out of it is that one wants to have a year two and is very much looking forward to it.

"One of the most amazing things about travel is the new perspective it provides. So take the time to reflect when your flâneuring is done. You had the courage to change your life when you departed, so use that courage to change your life when you return." - Tim (Page 297)

And with his closing words, I can't wait to see his next book and his next adventure. But I'm not done yet. With the Mature Flâneur. I won't be traveling home with this paperback but found a cute little home for it in the historic town of Cromwell.

And maybe you will be the next one picking it up.

So if you are interested in slow travel, want to learn more about the fine art of making vine and the most probably oldest postcards in the world while venturing along with a couple who remained young at heart and in spirit as they explore the world in their retirement, I recommend you to read this book (and maybe future editions).

Also, if you did write a travel memoir or similar book of your own adventures, please let me know in the comments below and I will be sure to check it out.

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