By Basically Ariana Grande
5’3 Isn’t That Short
For over a year now, students have been confined to their homes, with many going stir crazy, dreaming about the day they can get out of the house without the risk of catching COVID-19.
Freshman Lenora Brown has spent her time at home watching documentaries and reading biographies, and many have inspired her to travel to the places mentioned, as soon as it’s safe to do so.
“My travel plans are to go to Wakanda, Hogsmeade, Narnia, and King’s Landing. I’m definitely not going to be able to go to all of them soon, but I can swing Narnia since there’s a Goodwill right down the road,” Brown said.
Narnia has been big on Brown’s travel list ever since she read the history books “The Chronicles of Narnia,” detailing the country’s long history and the rise of the Pevensie siblings to power.
“I think Netflix has the Narnia documentary series. They’re really pretty and I think the actors look exactly like the real Pevensies, it’s a little uncanny,” Brown said.
“I’ve already spent so many years in closets, so the method of travel won’t bother me at all,” she said.
Brown is looking forward to seeing the famous lamppost and is glad for the Ice Queen’s demise because she doesn’t “do well with the cold.”
According to Brown, Wakanda is a country located in Africa which for many years has been hidden from the rest of the outside world, but that’s changed recently thanks to the popularity of Marvel’s documentary about the country titled “Black Panther” which is available on Disney+.
Thanks to the contributions of Princess Shuri, Wakanda has become the leading source in advanced technology, even overtaking the tech conglomerate Stark Industries.
Wakanda is also known for its gorgeous natural landscape. The country has magnificent waterfalls, giant snowy mountains, and breath taking sunsets.
Even Bucky Barnes, the formerly known Winter Solider, famed friend of the late Steve Rogers, said “I had a little calm in Wakanda.”
Barnes spent time in Wakanda recovering and undoing his Hydra brainwashing. It was a nice break for Barnes who claims that for 90 years prior he “just went from one fight to another.”
“I knew I had to visit Wakanda the second I saw the beautiful documentary Marvel did on it. I think it’s so interesting to see an African country untouched by colonialism,” Brown said.
Brown is especially excited to see the reconstruction efforts made to King’s Landing after the amount of fighting and destruction the city has been through. King’s Landing is the capital of Westeros, which until recently had been experiencing not only a civil war but the invasion of undead creatures known as the White Walkers.
“I wanna see that neo baroque architecture more than I wanted Queen Cersei to die,” she said.
Despite Westeros being a level three on the U.S. government’s travel advisory list, meaning all people should “reconsider travel,” Brown is not worried.
“Since King’s Landing is an open carry state, I was going to bring my dagger for protection,” Brown said.
“The rest of Westeros is definitely on my ‘someday’ list but until their LGBTQ+ laws change, I just don’t feel comfortable traveling anywhere except Dorne and King’s Landing not to mention the rampant misogyny,” she said.
The rise to power of Queen Sansa in the North and the North’s separation from Westeros is promising in terms of the advancement of rights for women, but the North’s winters are even harsher than those made by the Ice Queen when she took over Narnia, and Brown doesn’t think the hot springs in Winterfell are enough to keep her warm.
Brown was very adamant about not wanting to visit certain places she feels are overdone, such as the Merry Old Land of Oz
“Oz is so overplayed to me; I feel like every few years we see another Dorothy wanna be flooding Instagram with pics of her crew in Oz.”
And as much as the local talking flora and fauna of are interest to Brown, Wonderland has also made the no-go list.
“My main issue with visiting Wonderland is because of the rampant drug problem. My mom works for the government and if we go together, she could lose her clearance,” she said.
Brown is an avid admirer of famed Greek hero Percy Jackson but feels as if she’s outgrown Camp Half-Blood.
“I’m 19 years old, and despite being a kid at heart, I’m looking for a bit of a more grown-up experience now that I’m in college. I think Camp Half-Blood would have been perfect when I was like, 12 but now that I’m older I want some privacy that you just don’t find in their cabins,” she said.
Brown said that the inconsistencies and rampant in accuracies in the documentary films compared to the Jackson biographies were also a turn-off, but she is looking forward to the biopic series about Jackson that’s set to premiere on Disney+ sometime in the future and is hopeful perhaps it will give her some more ideas for travel destinations.
“You know, I have always been interested in the Underworld. I’d love to meet Hades and Persephone one day. And who wouldn’t want to play with Cerberus? I’d love to bring my pug Dena with me, I think they would get along really well,” Brown said.
While she’s too old for Hogwarts, Brown is looking forward to going to Hogsmeade especially to the well-known Hog’s Head Inn to try some Butterbeer. She was greatly inspired by the Harry Potter biopics.
“I know they actually filmed it in Hogsmeade, and it just looks so cozy. I’d love to sit inside by the fire with a book and a warm mug of Butterbeer,” she said.
Students should look forward to what they do with their time when traveling is a safe and viable option. The world is so big and if they need help deciding where they should travel, Brown recommends opening a book or turning on the TV. Students never know what they’ll discover.