Defining travels as “obscure” is often a stretch in modern context, but in SOMEWHERE FOUND (Travels in Obscurity), author Kyle Battisti takes readers strolling through realms of the unknown. The text opens with the author’s unlikely student choice to learn Armenian in Yerevan, where he comes face to face with a developing society in which his language teacher is the widow of a war leader, and the battle for Artsakh (a region disputed with neighboring Azerbaijan) is very much a live issue. Soon, Battisti finds himself visiting the capital of Artsakh, Stepenakert, providing along the way vivid descriptions of his fun-loving classmates, brutal piles of chicken innards, and the intermittent functioning of basics (e.g., electricity). With echoes of the Armenian genocide interlaced with fruity vodka and ramshackle accommodation, it comes across as otherworldly to western readers.
His sense of adventure triggered by that debut foray, Battisti’s life then becomes a sequence of travel-grabbing opportunities spread over many years. He heads to Budapest’s vibrant gay bar scene and explores the city’s newfound freedom. He dodges the KGB in St. Petersburg’s underground club scene and battles through passport checkpoints in independence-seeking Kurdistan. But even a drive through Sri Lanka is captivating:
“[…] his face bears the same disinterest he’ll wear all week. Whatever English he has, he rarely uses. We’ll spend the many hours of long drives side by side in complete silence, which suits me fine. He begins and ends this morning’s conversation with one sentence. ‘Now we go to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth.’”
Readers will also find themselves flitting around Java, Ethiopia, in Latvian capital Riga, on a guided tour of Sudan, and taking in a full cross-European tour to Istanbul (and many more) while the author commits in the closing pages to more out-there traveling.
The text has a nice blend: it’s about Battisti’s life and his adventures, but also drops in a thorough view of the places he visits, taking in plenty of their history. In well-written passages that fluctuate between his own experiences and nicely-penned explorations of history, readers are not quite transported—but certainly get a feel for the places and their individual identities. Take this one, describing Yerevan, Armenia:
“Outside of our school and meal routines, we explore the city, learning its rhythms, studying its machinery, examining the stitching of its fabric. Afternoons often find us at Mutant Duck Pond for a beer. This is not the official name of the city’s central park, but we’ve dubbed it so. The resident ducks are strange, ugly specimens with faces that seem stuck on upside down.”
And peeking out from behind the curtains is the author’s everyday life: something of a subplot to the travel, but his life’s progression is shining through the gaps in the curtains nonetheless. Especially as the years pass, adding a subtle yet helpful personal touch that gives a sense of his perspective.
There are many books on the market about “alternative” travel, and many of them contain weird and wonderful experiences. In some ways, this is simply another such text. It is not, perhaps, as obscure as it could be at times; but it is a great window into a traveler’s varied and enticing life, his search for meaning, and how he gathers a true sense of place. Thankfully, it’s served with a firm dose of attitude and engagement, a genuine attempt to become as involved in the places the author visits as possible, and an understanding that is delivered through the words.
Kyle Battisti’s SOMEWHERE FOUND (Travels in Obscurity) is vividly written and delivers a true sense of life-affirming joy, blending history and culture from inaccessible corners of the world.
~James Hendicott for IndieReader