See, this is why I love to travel. You don’t actually have to go somewhere to be somewhere, you just have to feel you are somewhere.

I am staying at the Arte Luise Kunst Hotel, a boutique designer hotel, where rooms are individually designed. Room 208 pays tribute to the American realist painter and print maker, known for his depictions of American life and his use of light and shadow to create mood. 

A sign in the room explains, “An allegory of transparent art as proof that, 50 years later, Edward Hopper is the perfect adornment for a hotel room too. Using paintings and objects, Volker Marz illuminates the philosophy and the expressionistic style of the famous painter in reference to the here (Luise) and now.”

Other than a huge Edward Hopper painting, there are a couple of objects which I like – they lend humour to a hotel room. One of a man sitting on a stool hangs just outside the bathroom door and another of a bare-butt figure lying with his or her back to me is tucked into a tiny nook behind the main door.

It’s quirky and takes away some of the loneliness of the long-distance traveller.

I arrived close to midnight, and so I don’t really have a clue as to where I am in the city of Berlin. When I chose this hotel, I did not think of location. I thought, new, different. I wanted to be inspired.

The minute I walked into reception which is really unlike any hotel lobby, a young man seemed to know who I was – I don’t think they get many guests from Asia. He had my reservations slip in his hand, and helped me with my suitcases up three flights of steps. This looks like an old building converted into hotel rooms so to get to my room, you have to walk to another wing and up some steps. 

It’s all wooden – the bedroom floor as well – so you hear footsteps all the time – it makes me feel I am living in an apartment, rather than a hotel.

I guess the drawback is no 24-hour room service and there’s no in-room tea and coffee service but hey, there’s free wifi. It’s the first thing he tells me when he shows me my room.

On the flight over from Frankfurt, I read an interview with Alain De Botton, author of “The Art of Travel”.

He believes that airlines and travel agencies should think more seriously about the nature of their business. “At one level, they’re sending passengers around the world. At a deeper level they’re connecting people with their dreams and hopes.

“I would like to be offered a therapy service prior to booking a ticket, and have a chance to talk to a therapeutically trained agent about why I want to travel to a particular place. Travel agents often see their job as just connecting you to a cheap hotel. They don’t go deeper into why we are supposed to be travelling. There is a gap in the market and in society for travel agents who question us deeply as to why we want to travel.”

Behind de Botton’s idea is the belief that we should choose places not because they are on the tourist map but because they could address something deep within us – for example, someone who is obsessed with materialistic pursuits might do better to go to a place like the Sinai Desert than to Hong Kong or the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

While the thought of travel agents serving as therapists as well scare me, I suppose what we could see is psychiatrists applying for travel agent licenses and sending clients for therapy abroad – which I am sure happens anyway.

I remember my doctor in Hong Kong once telling me, “Go away to an island somewhere and you’ll find your headaches will disappear.”

After Berlin, I will head for Paris. I am sure I will find therapy there amid the snow, wine, food and friends.

Featured image credit (Travel Concept): Ockra/iStock