Into the Dark Gray
02 Sep 202427Phoenix34
I went on a trip through some systems just outside the bubble to try my hands at cartography, see new places, and clear my mind. I returned just about a week ago and felt like recording my thoughts on the short journey. I can say for certain that I accomplished the three goals I had set, at least to some noticeable extent. The route was planned in advance: 20 systems, about 200ly apart from each other, but none more than about 1000ly from home. This meant I could see some of the more exotic places not too close to each other but could also abort the trip easily if I felt that I needed to return home early.I scanned a lot of things, got a lot of data. I know some people swear by cartography, while others just don't feel it's worth their time. I thought I'd be part of the latter group but, quite honestly, it's not different from data or cargo or passenger runs, except that it has no time limit, no need to secure tonnes of products or people in your hold, and nobody complaining about scraping the mail slot on the way in or out of a station. The haul wasn't great--200M cr for a week out of the bubble. But, at least in this case, profits were entirely secondary, a justification for the trip but not the point. I also know I could do much better in that respect if I wanted, so I won't write it off as a source of respectable income just yet.
I didn't necessarily see anything I hadn't seen before. A binary star system, a neutron star, an uninhabited earth-like, some gorgeous planetary rings. We have these in abundance at home (well maybe not uninhabited earth-likes, but still). However, in a place where the things themselves are the main attraction--heck, the only attraction--I got to enjoy the finer details a bit more than usual. I got to imagine the history of meteor impacts that could have resulted in some particular planet's crater acne. I got to ask myself some questions I hadn't asked before. "How did this member of a two-planet pair get its own moon? How long before one of these bodies is yeeted from the trio by unstable gravitational forces?" If I want to see something truly new, I will have to make a trip dedicated to that particular purpose. However, if all I want is to look at the things I see all around me in a new way, I can take a short skip away from the light of humanity and take in the black as it is without us.
It's hard to measure any long-term clarity in a galaxy with such constant bombardment of more and more information, news, and general chatter. More immediately upon my return, however, I was certainly able to easily see the big picture surrounding the tasks I had set for myself (and had put on hold for this break in the near black). It felt easy to reorganize and reprioritize them, optimize and even remove some of them, while still keeping the larger objectives in mind. Still seeing the material forest despite all the brain trees, as they say. When things feel jumbled or just overwhelming, I will definitely remember these means to put it down for a moment and clear my mind.
Without a doubt, I accomplished the goals I had set for this trip. While there are better ways to make money and more sure ways to see the best sights the galaxy has to offer, I think the time away was itself the greatest boon. The big money is right where all the people are, and the best sights are, largely, far too far away to visit willy-nilly. Right now, I am docked for a break at a station, with all its radio chatter and the bustle of logistics. As I recall this small journey in which I got to spend time with the stars and have their common glory for myself, I am reminded that that is its own reward, one which cannot be found within the bright lights of our bubble.