Give in to your wanderlust – An adventure awaits..
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.”
– Freya Stark
Why do people travel? This question has been buzzing in my head ever since I was a young boy, whose travels were confined to the four walls of his residence. As a toddler, I would crawl aimlessly along the floor, not knowing where I’m headed. And then, sometimes, I’d bump into a chair or bang my head against the wall. It would hurt, but the next time I was more aware and avoided the same obstacles.
It was during this reminiscence, when it struck me. That’s exactly what travel is all about – to learn. Every step you take on unfamiliar soil is an experience, and you learn so much from them.
Maybe when you’re travelling with your family or a group of friends, you need not worry about too many things; you just enjoy as much as you can. But it is when you embark on a journey alone that you realize how difficult life can get.
Not every day can you expect everything to go be hunky-dory; situations can, and usually will, go wrong. It is at this juncture where you learn to adapt yourself and get yourself out of the hole you dug yourself into.
Spending time in a foreign land for even the shortest of durations can teach us so much about how different two cultures can be. The lifestyle, the varying sights, the food, what works and what doesn’t. Yet, despite this contrast you see yourself as part of both worlds simultaneously.
“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”
-Anita Desai
There is no better way to know the world than to travel. The world as you know it seems such a different place when you experience it firsthand. A number of stereotypes about destinations you’ve never visited are rubbished when you step out and explore for yourself.
For my part, it is an unmatched feeling when you can call yourself a multi linguist. Learning a new language breeds a certain sense of accomplishment within you. Plus, it makes your journey a lot easier if you know the local tongue.
It fascinates me, even to this day, how easy it is to make new friends while travelling. There have been so many accounts of unbreakable friendships that laid their foundations on a chance meeting in some corner of the world. At this point, any previously established barrier of race, culture, religion, sex, and, most importantly, communication is turned to dust.
So go ahead, pack your bags and head out. Don’t think upon it too much, don’t listen to others. They may be laughing now, but when you return and look back at your diary or browse through the camera, you won’t care anymore.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain
