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The Historical Tourist

More than a month into the semester, I'm still struggling to get a dissertation-writing/research schedule down, but I think I'm starting to make a bit of progress.

Part of the problem stems ostensibly from the fact that I took a trip out of town during the third week of the semester. I've never done this before - in fact, I've never even done a research trip during a semester (aside from over spring break last spring, which doesn't count). It was more than a bit odd to get through those first few weeks with the knowledge that I was about to leave town, so I left efforts at a regular dissertation schedule aside and focused on simply getting through the things that had to be done.

Then, of course, I returned to craziness after my vacation, and it took another two weeks to get back on track, but what can I say? I guess I've fallen victim to the oh-so-easy procrastination that can set in once you pass exams and finish coursework.

The main thing, I suppose, is that I'm now making progress. And, even better, I got a week away with family.

The funny thing about my traveling habits, I always think, is the general obsession I have to visit historical sites no matter what else is on the agenda. Last June I traveled east to do research at the National Archives' Archives II facility in College Park, MD, and on the way I stopped by Antietam National Battlefield and Harpers Ferry - along with a brief stop at a small Civil War battlefield called Monocacy.

With my most recent trip, we stopped off at Chickamauga National Battlefield for a couple of hours, then spent a few minutes at Kennesaw Mountain National Park (battlefield) in Georgia. And then there was the part where we spent a few hours in St. Augustine, Florida, at Castillo de San Marcos.

I wonder, is it common for historians to be such tourists like me? And it's not just my insistance that we make such stops: other family members get equally excited about (and insist upon) these little jaunts.

Maybe it is common, and maybe I'm just commonplace. Whatever it is, I don't think my trips anywhere would be the same without a couple of national park stopovers, a stamp in our national park passport book, and an opportunity to play my own "Rate the Interpretive Film" game.

Posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 8:15 AM | Comments (1) | Return

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