why does one travel? To what purport? recreation? education? Relaxation? Change of place? To meet new people? Well, all and none.
Let me explain. Most travellers travel only with their bodies. Their minds are revolving around their home interest or the beloved they have left behind. they carry remnants of their home life wherever they go.Like water bottles. Medication kits. sleeping bags. and abundant literature on the don’ts. The dos are fewer. And the authority for the guidance? a lifeless book published a few months ago. No book, even the best researched ones, will tell me in advance about a lighning strike in services or a civic protest. one wonders why these travellers do not follow the example of the chinese travellers or the portuguese or the Arabian who visited my coutnry as well as the neighbours, when they did not know the local dialect and reference books were non-existent. Nor for that matter the early travellers had access to antibiotics and mineral water and insect proof sleeping bags and tents.
What is the way to travel? I commend the carefree mode. We do have some natural resistance to climate changes, microbe attacks and may bank on our immune system to fight the hazards of the journey. the thrill of travelling is lost by excessive preparation. Be an explorer, Be openminded. Equip yourself with local knowledge, the terrain and the people. Keep your eyes and ears open. Observe not through other people’s eyes. Judge not through other people’s lenses of prejudice. Wonder, and wonder yet more. Every othe human being has something to teach me. Till you discover there is no other.The purpose of travel is to take you to new zones, make you experience new things. Just be and the unique gift is yours.