When I start on my journey to any destination, I picture in my mind only the beginning. Never the end. I look forward with child-like glee to the excitement of discovering places unknown, sights unseen, people not befriended yet. I have an enduring travel map in my mind that is contoured by the inexhaustible curiousity to explore and find. To experience and learn. To feel and savour. In all my years of traipsing around much of the globe, the desire to see more, feel more, know more has not been satiated. Travel is an unquenched thirst. Travel is a desire unfulfilled. Travel is an oasis in a desert. Travel is transient meditation. Travel is pining for more. Travel is a search for the infinite within finite distances.
People ask me what they should do to make their trips more interesting. I say, don’t plan too much. Be open to the belief that there are worlds that are unlike our own. People different from us yet similar in every human way. Sights to see that will change your perspective of beliefs held dear. Experiences that may shatter prejudices and transform you into to a more tolerant person. All these positives of travel have one thing in common. They help you reinvent yourself. The change is internal but it will permanently influence the way you think and act. The way you empathize with everything around you. For you have seen beyond the mask. The unreal is now real. The unthinkable, very plausible.
When you travel, there will always be the safe option of going down the beaten track and must do’s and must sees. While they may be welcome at times and inescapable at others, you should never let such itineraries inhibit your ability to explore vistas that you can only see, if you step off that conducted tour mode. Travel safe by all means but do not insulate yourself from the possibility of sights unseen, music unheard, emotions unfelt. And the kindness of strangers. Only by embracing them will you feel the warmth. Good travel brings people together. Creates harmony among disparate peoples. Heals a fractured world. Makes us believe that we have been blessed with the ultimate gift. Of life.
So travel, far and wide. Live life to the brim. Let the happiness spill over so that it spreads to nooks and corners unseen. Let your travel experiences permeate to all those who are near and dear. Let your travel make you whole. In spirit. Let your travel embrace the world.
Bon voyage! Buon viaggi! Gute reisen! Shubh yatra! Buen viaje!
Shekhar Niyogi is a travel writer, tourism consultant and Executive Director of Travelcorp.
Email: shekhar.niyogi@gmail.com