She turned some of her bad travel experiences
into good stories and treated them lightly, presenting them in her articles as
amusing and interesting adventures, evidence that she was doing something
exciting with her life, rather than as the ordeals and nightmares that many of
the incidents undoubtedly were.
This article contains a few more examples of
her experiences and some thoughts about the issues that the accounts of her
journeys raise. I wonder why she would put herself through so much; I also wonder how much of it she did in the right spirit, as opposed to just going through the motions. I wonder whether
she thought that it was all worth it.
In Stella Benson’s own words
“Nobody but a true fool tries to cross the United States in a Ford car in the middle of winter."
“Nobody but a true fool tries to cross the United States in a Ford car in the middle of winter."
“Also we had another loss. Money in an inner
coat pocket is safe enough in circumstances that permit a man to stand dry and
upright as his Maker intended him to stand. But tip that man in and out of
a Ford foundering in floods, load him with wet kit-bags, bend him like a
hairpin, bereave him of hope and dignity—and where is that money at the end of
the day? Where indeed is it? We had nothing now but a few dollars, which I
found, sodden, in my breeches pocket.“
“Arriving that evening at a small cheerless
hamlet, cold, soaked and exhausted, we were given a room full of holes, through
which the draughts whistled... We were soaked, shivering, and sad.“
“I travelled in the smallest and dingiest
Japanese passenger ship on the Pacific...By the time I had reached Honolulu I
had actually a broken shoulder in addition to scores of minor wounds acquired
by contact with walls, floors, funnels, masts, stewards, and any
fellow-passengers harder in texture than myself.”
“For ten days I had been a wreck owing to
some accident in the middle ear, caused by constant jolting, which left me so
violently giddy that I could at no time stand without support, and sometimes
could not even sit upright.”
“The journey from San Francisco to Miami, in
the heat of summer, was one of the most uncomfortable I ever undertook...on one
occasion an insane female passenger, escaping from her attendants, struck me
hard, in irrational merriment, on the point of the jaw while I lolled in
cramped and exhausted sleep...
I stepped out, astonished, into a howling
mob. Now I wanted only two or three simple things of Miami—a tube of
toothpaste, a couple of light meals and a bed for the night, and I saw I should
have to fight to get them.”
The mob of people had come for a property
auction, and Stella’s attempts to find a hotel were taken for a wish to buy a
hotel! It took her a very long time to find a hotel room, and she missed the
two meals. She never did get her toothpaste.
Stella Benson the travel writer
The above quotations come from
Stella Benson’s travel books The Little World and Worlds Within Worlds, which I found on Project Gutenberg. They consist of collections of articles,
some illustrated by Stella herself.
These travel essays were designed to be entertaining and informative rather than introspective. They were not the place for detailed self-analysis and descriptions of her inner state, although she does mention ‘hours of despair’ and travelling in ‘dangerous loneliness’.
These travel essays were designed to be entertaining and informative rather than introspective. They were not the place for detailed self-analysis and descriptions of her inner state, although she does mention ‘hours of despair’ and travelling in ‘dangerous loneliness’.
Sooner her then me
I feel no envy when reading Stella Benson’s
accounts of her travels.
Some of the anecdotes sound horrific; such incidents
would have ruined everything for me. She also encountered many social horrors
while travelling and living in the Far East.
Some of the nightmare experiences associated
with her journeys make painful and disturbing reading because they bring back
memories of some bad travelling experiences and near-misses of my own.
I eventually learned from experience,
accepted reality, made some difficult decisions and compromises and played safe
by living well within my capabilities, none of which Stella Benson ever did.
After a bad experience, she often deliberately put herself into a similar
situation - or at least didn’t take enough precautions to ensure that it
wouldn’t happen again.
The right spirit
These days, I only go on recreational and sightseeing trips and exploratory journeys if and when I can do it in the right spirit. I see no point in going somewhere unless the inclination, energy and ability to enjoy it are there.
These days, I only go on recreational and sightseeing trips and exploratory journeys if and when I can do it in the right spirit. I see no point in going somewhere unless the inclination, energy and ability to enjoy it are there.
Stella
Benson knew what it was like to fully participate in and enjoy life, as can be seen in this article.
I doubt whether she had the same feelings of interest and involvement, excitement and enjoyment, very often when she was travelling; I suspect that much of the time
she was just forcing herself along, ignoring or enduring the pain.
Profit and loss
I can’t see much in the way of net gain here.
Stella Benson’s written output, her
reputation as a writer, her image as the glamorous world traveller and her bank
balance may have been all the better for the travelling, and the sights she saw
and people she encountered provided plenty of food for her eyes, her mind and
her imagination and extended her list of experiences, but travelling may have
made her health and perhaps also her inner state much worse.
Poor health and depression sabotaged much of Stella Benson’s life and made extensive travel and taking on more than she could comfortably cope with very unwise, yet she spent most of her adult life out of the UK. She often became dependent on the kindness of strangers. She would fall seriously ill, and the people around her had to take care of her. She said, “I have been so wearisome to every one, so constantly ill.”
Poor health and depression sabotaged much of Stella Benson’s life and made extensive travel and taking on more than she could comfortably cope with very unwise, yet she spent most of her adult life out of the UK. She often became dependent on the kindness of strangers. She would fall seriously ill, and the people around her had to take care of her. She said, “I have been so wearisome to every one, so constantly ill.”
She was often out of action, resting in bed
or in hospital undergoing treatment.
So why did she put herself through all that?
Why did she do it?
Stella Benson desperately wanted to see the
world; looking for a better climate for her health and needing material for her
writing made good pretexts for extensive travelling.
Perhaps she was both looking for something
and trying to escape from other things. She may well have wanted to get away
from her mother. Her life of independence in London had not worked out too
well, and she hated the thought of having to go back to living with her mother.
As to whether or not the game was worth the candle, it seems to me that it was not, but only Stella herself could answer that question.
As to whether or not the game was worth the candle, it seems to me that it was not, but only Stella herself could answer that question.
With no Worldwide Web, no Instagram and no
TV, many people relied on travel books to get an idea of what other countries were
like. Stella Benson’s books Worlds Within Worlds and The Little World together
with her illustrations gave people a taste of life in China and other exotic places.
