The world lost a great travel writer last week when Ryszard Kapuscinski passed away.
Kapuscinski was a highly regarded Polish journalist who, in addition to penning copious travel articles and 20 books, also covered 27 revolutions around the globe. For his part in uncovering the world at large, he was sentenced to death four separate times by various dictators.
According to an obituary in the LA Times, Kapuscinski spent quite a bit of his time “in desolate outposts of Africa in part because the Polish news agency could not afford to bring him home.”
His first trip outside of communist Poland was quite a revelation. After requesting the opportunity to report from abroad, he was finally given an assignment to go to India. Imagine having never seen anything but gray, communist Poland your whole life and suddenly finding yourself in the heart of 1956 India.
The New Yorker has thoughtfully reprinted Kapuscinski’s personal narrative of the eye-opening account of this journey. It is a rich read conveying an emotion and perspective that doesn’t really exist in this world anymore. “What was it like on the other side,” he writes. “It would, of course, be… different. But what did ‘different’ mean?”
Take a moment to relish this account of what would eventually be a seasoned traveler embarking on his first journey. And if you like what you read, you might want to check out one of his books. My favorite, Imperium, recounts the fall of the Soviet Union and is well worth your time.