{"id":712,"date":"2009-04-20T20:01:32","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T20:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/2009\/04\/20\/in_which_wanderlust_wanes\/"},"modified":"2009-04-20T20:01:32","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T20:01:32","slug":"in_which_wanderlust_wanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/2009\/04\/20\/in_which_wanderlust_wanes\/","title":{"rendered":"In which Wanderlust wanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have just arrived in Heidelberg for my month-long sabbatical at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory<\/a>, following up on the groundwork I laid when I was last here in February 2008<\/a>. Although London is not far away as the Airbus flies, I am worn out from the day’s travelling and happy to be settled into the Transit-appartement<\/em> on the top floor of the ISG Hotel, just down the road from the Labs. I find myself in a four-room penthouse surrounded by roof terraces. From the Bauhaus-inspired living area, I can see the wooded mountainside looming upward, and from the bedroom window, there is a good view of the vineyards and the wide, flat valley stretching out below into the sunset. The air is warm and stirs the net curtains, and I can smell lilac and hear the singing of nearly familiar birds.<\/p>\n

\nThese rooms seem extravagant, but the EMBL got me a good deal and assured me it was the most cost-effective way to be accommodated at this time of the month for the length I needed. I’ve bought some groceries from the local shopping plaza, where the baker remembered me and managed to charm me into buying cumin bread even though \u2013 typical American \u2013 I was after white. I’ve unpacked and had a simple but satisfying meal in the restaurant, along with a glass of excellent Sp\u00e4tburgunder<\/em>. The waitress, too, remembers me, and seems happy to see me back.<\/p>\n

\nAs trips go, then, this is more than usually comfortable. I know the neighborhood and have worked with the lab before; it’s a tranquil setting and I anticipate getting a lot of writing done in my free evenings, going for long runs on the steep paths that snake around the mountain, so convoluted that you can never go the same way twice. I am looking forward to performing my big timelapse screen, and am suffused with nervous buzz I often get just before a major experiment.<\/p>\n

\nBut I have to confess something that, years ago as a green PhD student, I would never have dreamed of: I am weary of travel<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\nThe itinerant existence is often touted as one of the rare perks of the profession. In my day, I have taken full advantage, having performed research stints in three countries and attended meetings in many dozens of exotic locations all over the world. When I was younger, I thrilled to these adventures and was always pining for the next one. I loved the rituals of airlines and the monkey-puzzle of foreign metro systems, trams, trains and buses. I loved that feeling when you open a hotel door and discover exactly what sort of room is on the other side. I loved meeting new people, bonding in that instant way of youth with students and post-docs from all walks of life. Things seemed less heavy then: we were all going to become lab heads, we were all going to be friends for life. Now, of course, I know better. And hand in hand, after wandering the earth for more years that I ever thought I would, I have a deep appreciation for the value of a stable home.<\/p>\n

\nI have no doubt that travel is good for scientists, even ageing ones. It stimulates new ideas and keeps the thought processes from ossifying into conservatism. It forces you out of your comfort zone and ensures that you never become complacent in your routines. And though I am enjoying sitting in front of the laptop in solitude, drinking Fenchel<\/em> tea and nibbling vollkorn<\/em> biscuits in this spotless expanse, there is a little ache in my heart for the apple trees and cow parsley I’ve left behind, whose blooms will be faded by the time I get home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have just arrived in Heidelberg for my month-long sabbatical at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, following up on the groundwork I laid when I was last here in February 2008. Although London is not far away as the Airbus … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/mindthegap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}