Waiting.. Bored.. Nothing to do.. Bored again.. Waiting.. Bored.. Lets Write!
As a kid, I never aspired to travel like how I do now. This could be attributed to the type of trips I went for, like many other Indian kids. A full family visit to monuments/temples, carrying lots of food and posing ONCE for a memory sake family photo. Well, I am not an architect or a monument lover. Yes, I do see monuments, admire their grandeur and that’s all. But there has been absolutely nothing that I carry with me from that visit. It is a mere tick in the box. However, I do remember the activities/ experiences/ incidents from my travels. Those experiences need no photographs no souvenir for me to recollect them – the name of the place is enough. Strangely, those experiences have not only broken the monotony of my routine life but also have transformed me.
Like on my visit to Hampi, when I climbed boulders to reach the highest point of the town to catch the sunrise and town’s aerial view, I had no walls around, no eyes on me, no words. I felt I was in my SPACE but with gravity and air. When I visited my first international country Singapore how suddenly I felt intimidated and in loss of my confidence. At Agatti, while sleeping on the beach under a sky full of stars or walking through the sea to an uninhabited island or while scuba diving or snorkeling, I realized that mind’s non-stop thought churn can be over powered by what the rest of the body is experiencing.
While trekking to the highest peak of Coorg through mud stones and forests without any prior experience, trek gear/guide, drinking stream water, conversing with strangers, I experienced the power of motivation and will-power which left me exhilarated. At Wayanad, taking a swim in a fresh water river surrounded by locals ashore I managed to let go of my inhibitions. How I was overwhelmed by the devotees and lost my faith in idols post attending the Ganesh Visarjan at Mumbai, cutting through hundreds of people and seeing hundreds of Ganpati idols on the beach.
At Manali when I got disappointed to see fog all around and was awestruck to be surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges when the fog drifted away, all in one hour. Watching nature surprise me every hour I realized how I jump to conclusions and make opinions instead of giving things time.
Yes, it is the experiences or incidents during travels that you and I mostly narrate/hear from others over years.
Yes, I want to travel – not the world, not to finish a bucket list, not to take a break, not to visit the Points of Interest of a place but I want to travel – to have experiences which lets me meet myself, which makes my mind stop thinking, which makes me happily come back to my routine life, which gives me a story worth narrating tomorrow!
Breathe on and feel alive!