Today is Independence Day in the United States, the day the United States formally declared Independence from the British Crown. I thought today would be as good as any to get to know one of the most respected Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, a little better, specifically concerning his thoughts on travel.
Thomas Jefferson On Travel
Jefferson was an interesting character–oft misunderstood–and this simply is not the time or place to discuss the many facets of the third President of the United States, but he did have a few things to say about travel. Check out this 1787 he wrote to his nephew Peter Carr from Paris:
Dear Peter,
Traveling makes men wiser, but less happy. When men of sober age travel, they gather knowledge, which they may apply usefully for their country, but they are subject ever after to recollections mixed with regret—their affections are weakened by being extended over more objects, and they learn new habits which cannot be gratified when they return home. Young men who travel are exposed to all these inconveniences in a higher degree, to others still more serious, and do not acquire that wisdom for which a previous foundation is requisite, by repeated and just observations at home. The glare of pomp and pleasure is analogous to the motion of the blood—it absorbs all their affection and attention, they are torn from it as from the only good in this world, and return to their home as to a place of exile and condemnation. Their eyes are forever turned back to the object they have lost, and its recollection poisons the residue of their lives. Their first and most delicate passions are hackneyed on unworthy objects here, and they carry home the dregs, insufficient to make themselves or anybody else happy. Add to this that a habit of idleness—an inability to apply themselves to business—is acquired and renders them useless to themselves and their country. These observations are founded in experience. There is no place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little obstructed by foreign objects, as in your own country, nor any, wherein the virtues of the heart will be less exposed to be weakened. Be good, be learned, and be industrious, and you will not want the aid of traveling, to render you precious to your country, dear to your friends, happy within yourself. I repeat my advice to take a great deal of exercise, and on foot. Health is the first requisite after morality. Write to me often, and be assured of the interest I take in your success, as well as the warmth of those sentiments of attachment with which I am, dear Peter, your affectionate friend.
Let’s beak that down a little.
Jefferson argues that travel is so eye-opening, so moving, so riveting that you will never be able to return to a life of hard work in a single place, particularly if you are young (Peter, 17 at the time, had written to his uncle begging him to come to Europe). Instead, you will simply be unhappy as you reminisce on the richness of travel but are unable to indulge further. Essentially, travel is a forbidden fruit that is so invigorating that is should be avoided at all costs.
Two years earlier in a letter to his friend John Bannister, Jr. Jefferson had written:
Let us view the disadvantages of sending a youth to Europe. To enumerate them all, would require a volume. I will select a few.
If he goes to England, he learns drinking, horse racing and boxing. These are the peculiarities of English education. The following circumstances are common to education in that, and the other countries of Europe. He acquires a fondness for European luxury and dissipation, and a contempt for the simplicity of his own country; he is fascinated with the privileges of the European aristocrats, and sees, with abhorrence, the lovely equality which the poor enjoy with the rich, in his own country; he contracts a partiality for aristocracy or monarchy; he forms foreign friendships which will never be useful to him, and loses the season of life for forming in his own country, those friendships, which, of all others, are the most faithful and permanent; he is led by the strongest of all the human passions, into a spirit for female intrigue, destructive of his own and others’ happiness, or a passion for whores, destructive of his health, and, in both cases, learns to consider fidelity to the marriage bed as an ungentlemanly practice, and inconsistent with happiness; he recollects the voluptuary dress and arts of the European women, and pities and despises the chaste affections and simplicity of those of his own country; he retains, through life, a fond recollection, and a hankering after those places, which were the scenes of his first pleasures and of his first connections; he returns to his own country, a foreigner, unacquainted with the practices of domestic economy, necessary to preserve him from ruin, speaking and writing his native tongue as a foreigner, and therefore unqualified to obtain those distinctions, which eloquence of the pen and tongue ensures in a free country; for I would observe to you, that what is called style in writing or speaking, is formed very early in life, while the imagination is warm, and impressions are permanent.
I am of opinion, that there never was an instance of a man’s writing or speaking his native tongue with elegance, who passed from fifteen to twenty years of age, out of the country where it was spoken. Thus, no instance exists of a person’s writing two languages perfectly. That will always appear to be his native language, which was most familiar to him in his youth. It appears to me then, that an American coming to Europe for education, loses in his knowledge, in his morals, in his health, in his habits, and in his happiness.
As a frequent traveler to Paris, was Jefferson speaking from experience? Is Jefferson’s advice something that young Peter should have taken to heart or quickly rejected?
Traveling in the 1780’s was certainly not the same as traveling today, but I find it a tad disheartening that Jefferson had so little faith in youth. And it’s always easy for someone to tell others not to travel as he sits in his penthouse in Paris. But I will say this: the more I travel, the more I want to travel. I am addicted to it–though not for the reasons Jefferson articulates above–and can’t see an end in sight. Maybe Jefferson had a good point…
As it turned out, young Peter took Uncle Tom’s advice. The only time he left Virginia was to travel to New York in 1789 to watch George Washington be sworn in as the first President of the Untied States. He returned to Virgina and became a successful lawyer (and was also rumored–like Uncle Tom–to have a fondness for Sally Hemmings), dying at the age of 45 in 1815.
Jefferson would live on till 1826–July 4, 1826 to be exact–and I bet he often asked himself what would have happened had he allowed good ol’ Pete to join him in Europe.
image: National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian
Jefferson was a complicated, and at times, contradictory fellow. I think a lot of his writings were a reflection of the times in which he lived (which is the same for all of us). Travel in those days was very expensive and often hazardous…a safe arrival after a long ocean crossing was by no means guaranteed. Tourism was virtually unheard of, and most people lived their entire lives just a few miles from where they were born. For most, life was hard, brutal, filthy, and short. Jefferson was very well travelled for his day and while he enjoyed it, he also preferred his “own country” as he called Virginia. During the Revolutionary era, he, along with the other Founding Fathers, wanted to steer Americans away from the “old way” of doing things that had gone on for centuries in Europe, so I can understand his sentiments of not wanting young Americans coming home with an “old world outlook.” Still, Jefferson was an intensely curious man, and I think had he been alive today, he’d be a globetrotter, given the ease of modern day travel. There is an excellent book about Jefferson and his travels titled “Passions: The Wine and Travels of Thomas Jefferson.” It’s very well written and captures the essence of what it was like to travel back then, and of course, Jefferson’s love of France. Fast forward a hundred years, and I think Mark Twain summed it up best in opining that “travel is fatal to prejudice.”
Can’t read all that But I do understand why people should not travel on holidays. And I don’t.
They didn’t have Airplanes in those days… I would not want to travel either on a stuffy, crowded Boat to Europe!
But true, travel has a double-edged sword. I’ve had long-distance relationships in today’s modern world of air travel (which can be heartbreaking).
It’s a romantic idea to say that travel is fatal to prejudice, but travel is not fatal to prejudice.
About Jefferson’s advice to his nephew, Scott covered it. Jefferson wanted a break from the ways of the Old World and had concerns that a young nation would be vulnerable to corruption by foreign powers and at risk of copying the ways of the Old World in the young country.
Given the hate, racism, and fear in the comments of this blog perhaps Jefferson was right. As a travel blog it seems a large percentage of the readers here are miserable human beings who can’t even see the beauty of American Democracy let alone earn the privilege of traveling elsewhere with any sort of open mind. Or education.
Happy July 4th. Enjoy your hot dog before Project 25 turns the idea of freedom into an autocracy. No matter what you think of Jefferson, he is surely rolling in his grave right now. As is every dead Republican through history, including Ronald Reagan.
Reference to Project 2025 , inspired me to ask what is Project 2025 ?
Project 2025 certainly makes sense to anyone who lives in a dem state . Reagan would agree .
Perhaps one ought to travel to Bulgaria to meet the Karakachan Sheepdog , or the memory of Georgi Markov ?
I will happily enjoy my hot dog on July 4 , thank you .
Shut up. Let the rest of us enjoy our travels and comment what we like.
I’ve been censored. My original comment was much nastier to sanctimonious dimwit Stuart but it has been watered down so that it expresses merely a fraction of the venom it did before. This is a travesty. Matthew I’d rather you delete the whole thing than bowdlerize my insults. This latter version does not adequately express my contempt for this catamite and his insipid opinions.
Have you ever cared to ask yourself why you have so much venom for people who don’t talk your talk or walk your walk like you wish? You really should look inside yourself to figure out what it is that may not really be working for you. It’s not like Stuart is ruining your life, so what is it that is really getting you so riled up if it’s not just you?
I’ve looked deep into myself and found the reason: because it’s funny.
@Chi Hsuan:
I can remove the entire comment if you prefer – I did delete some words, but certainly did not any.
You know how lenient I am with comments, but the accusations of horrific crimes (pedo stuff) toward specific commenters cannot fly.
Well he deserves it.
While I thank you, Matthew, I am also quite comfortable with myself and my standing in society. These things have no affect on me. In fact, It’s better if you don’t censor them as it clearly shows how unhinged and deranged MAGA world is. They may believe his nonsense, but rational and decent people just roll their eyes. I actually have fun reverse trolling him. And watching his head explode.
So I’ll challenge you, Chi Hsuan, to an identity release on LALF. Moderated by Matthew. He can release both of our identities publicly once he confirms yours. Than we can talk. Let’s play. I’ll even provide my cell number if you do yours. For all to see. Wanna play a game?
LOL no, this is all just entertainment for me, it’s not that important. You’ll have to keep battling MAGA in your own mind.
@Chi I see. It’s all just “entertainment for you.”
I’m willing to go head to head with you with identity. Discuss. Debate. Break bread. Out front and in open.
You though prefer just to slam random comments behind a hidden identity and giggle like a schoolgirl. That’s the difference between us. I am willing to bring credibility to a discussion, you just want entertainment. As does most of the MAGA world you live in. In your head.
If you want to have serious discussions then you are more than welcome to go to a Trump rally or any other place with large numbers of Trump supporters where you will find plenty of people willing to engage with you IN REAL LIFE.
I’m sure that after starting off with all that talk about how racist and hateful and uneducated they are and that they hate democracy etc, they will engage you in deep, thoughtful discussion befitting a man like you who brings so much “credibility to the discussion”, if they don’t laugh you off first.
I myself consider you an object of mockery, not just for your stupidity, but also the false civility. I will therefore continue to get my kicks at your expense.
@Chi
As typical of any MAGA foaming at the mouth you just deflect and ignore a challenge. This challenge is for you, not rally attendees. Just as I don’t go to a KKK meeting to have a discussion, I have no reason to go to a MAGA rally as you suggest. I focus on what is in front of me. You.
It’s here at LALF where it’s you that spews racist and disgusting angry comments almost daily. As such, I wish to know who you are. And I am willing and happy to share who I am in exchange. With that we can have a fair discussion as to your background, experience, and why you are so angry. And I can offer my own. Otherwise, without a tit for tat, you have no credibility, no reasonable approach, and appear to be a 15-year old incel. In crass terms, I have no reason to believe you are anything other than a little boy who has no pleasure outside smelling his own farts.
Come, Chi. Let’s play a game.
I think one of the dangers of travel as a tourist is that we compare the experiences we have when we’re spending money on vacation with our experiences at home working. If I’m in another city, I’ll spend money a little more loosely which wouldn’t be sustainable in my normal life.
That said, travel for me changed my life: I decided to learn Polish and only then discovered my father spoke it as a child but didn’t want to share that with me (when he was 60 years old) and left the country for a week and when I returned people asked if I had been born in the states. It was that radical a transformation. If done correctly, travel is about challenging ones provincial perspective, thinking “out of the box”, and daring to expand ones horizons. But many, IMO, simply travel to have fun and don’t really change all that much. I go to where the “locals” live and eat like Anthony Bourdain partly because I’m cheap but also because I want to meet the locals.
I am now, IMO, a Polish (at heart) ex-pat living in the country of my birth. I intend to retire overseas. Our friends largely speak English as a second language and my daughter “thinks” in native Ukrainian.
I nonetheless have dear friends who are American (both in culture and birth) and celebrate July 4th. The concept of freedom and liberty are important ones and I cherish them.
“Or don’t travel” is always an option a lot of people just conveniently forget. Not just on specific days but generally.
Sounds like he’s bitter that he couldn’t redeem his Hyatt points at the Vendôme that week…
The Park Hyatt hotel wasn’t there during Jefferson’s lifetime since it only opened a good way into yours, but I am pretty sure Jefferson could have “called” some favors to set up his nephew if he and his nephew were so interested.