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Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own (Paperback) - The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus With a Will of Its Own
Orion, Doreen / Broadway Books / 2008년 6월
평점 :
Like many people, until we reached our late thirties, Tim and I went through life feeling rather invincible. Not only was it inconcevable that something bad could ever happen to us, even our very morality seemed suspect. When we hit our forties, this changed, as our contemporaries experienced sudden, unexpected tragedies: A friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. A colleague died of a heart attack in his sleep. Both of us, for the first time, could feel creaks and aches in bones we hadn't thought about since anatomy class. Over the years, we each treated people in our practices who looked forward to all they planned to do in retirement but, when the time came, were too ill to travel or too devastated by the death of a spouse to live out their dreams. 이런 심정으로 버스공포증에 슈즈홀릭인 도린은 수많은 구두와 개와 고양이를 싣고 1년 일정으로 전미 버스 여행을 떠난다.
Yes, a forest is pretty. But at walking speed, the scenery just doesn't change that much minute to minute. Worse, when the aim of lake, why all those hours of mind-numbing exertion for a few minutes' view? 이게 보통 사람이 산에 오를 때 심정이겠지. 하지만 자칭 나무늘보인 도린도 이 이후에는 산의 좋은 점을 알게 된다. 너무나 당연하게도.
We spent Christmas and New Year's in Key West..It seems spending the holiday's in the Keys-especially Key Weird- is insanely popular amongst the RV set. 키웨스트를 키위어드라고 표현하는 정도가 그녀의 위트다. 역시 빌 브라이슨 만한 위트나 재치를 다른 사람에게서 기대하는 것은 무리.
On our way to Tucson, we stopped at a truck stop in Segovia, Texas, whose sign boasted "Fuel, food and pretty waitresses." I was a bit offended, until upon closer inspection, the word "old" became apparent between "pretty" and "waitresses." 이런 농담은 우리 나라에도 있지 않을까.
I devised the Five Stages of Getting Grief from Hiking with Doreen: Denial("We're not going all the way up there, are we?"); Anger("I can't believe I let you take me on this stupid hike!"); Bargaining("If we stop now, I'll have the energy to do another hike tomorrow. Really, I promise!"); Despair("Oh, why did I ever let you talk me into anything over three miles?"); Acceptance("Fine, But this is absolutely, positively, the last hike I will ever go on for the rest of my life!") Recalling the disappinting Perseverance Lake Trail of Ketchikan, I felt compelled to add a sixth stage, one which only occurs in extreme circumstances, at a perfect storm of elevation gain, accumulated mileage, mud, and bugs: Confabulation (Look at the dog! You're killing him!") Finally, when I nagged enough to make even Tim agree to quit, I clutched the poodle to celebrate, beaming as I attempted to reinforce the wisdom of my husband's capitulation. 이런 정도가 그녀의 특성을 잘 드러내는 말장난.
Living on our bus allowed me to see how few things I really needed and, ultimately, what I actually valued. I truly hadn't appreciated how important my belongings had become, until I shed most of them and put the rest at risk-on the bus. And risk itself turned out to be exactly what I needed. 하지만 1년의 버스 여행 경험은 쇼핑광이었던 그녀를 변화시킨다. 굳이 버스에 살지 않더라도 몇 년 여기저기 떠돌아 살다보면 우리가 생활하는 데 정말 필요한 물건은 몇 안 된다는 것을 알게 된다. 옷, 화장품, 심지어 책도 무겁고 귀찮은 짐에 불과하다는것을 알게된다.
주유소 강도를 목격하고, 누드파크에도 가보고 온갖 특이한 경험을 하지만 그게 전부다. 번역본으로 책 소개를 접하고 원본으로 읽게 되었지만 외국인에게는 잘 알려져있지 않은 미국인들이 선호하는 상호(예를 들면 R.E.I.같은 것들)나 문화들이 많이 나와서 번역하면 그 재미가 반감될 것 같다. 왜 이 책이 번역됐는지 참 특이하다. 하지만 떠나고 싶지만 떠나지 못하는 이들은 늘 이런 책을 찾게 된다. Just pamper my wanderlust!!!