The art of...
finding family anywhere
If you really want to understand the importance of
making friends and forging connections on the road,
interview a touring rock star, writes ANNA HART.
W
hat makes someone a good traveller? We
all know people who pride themselves on
packing light, who brag about doing a two-
week trip with a carry-on holdall; bathroom
unguents meticulously decanted into dinky containers, a
capsule wardrobe of neutral cashmere and silk jersey basics
rolled into their aluminium cabin-size Away suitcase, battery-
packs fully charged, cables coiled, podcasts downloaded.
We know travellers who scour local Instagram accounts in
Margaret River, Hong Kong and Florence, and arrive in their
destination armed with an itinerary of supper clubs, pop-up
cocktail bars and sought-after immersive theatre productions in
warehouses. Packing light and researching heavily are impressive
travel skills, certainly, but when I think about the very besttravellers in the world, the ones who’ve elevated it to an art form,
I think of a specific demographic of people: rock stars on tour.
When I asked the musician Ezra Furman how they stayed
happy and sane on the road during an interview, I braced
myself for some pre-packaged and pedestrian reply about staying
hydrated and using mindfulness apps. Instead, Furman said,
“Be as open as you can with the people you’re working with
that day. Don’t pass up any opportunity for a connection,
however brief. Don’t hold back on what’s in your spirit.”
It reminded me of the time I’d watched Leonard Cohen
wandering around backstage at the Barbican Hall in London,
addressing every single crew member by name. “Say, Sean,
would you like a chocolate? They’re from Belgium.” And when
I asked Stevie Wonder during an interview at the Savoy Hotel122 GOURMET TRAVELLER