Travellers...

The ones who feel themselves and feel most alive while they are on the go, this one is for you. It is for me, too! A blog post to revive the memories that are as fresh as few minutes ago in our short-term memory, and yet have a profound impact and space in our long-term memory. A memoir, yours and mine; for the love of travelling and love there in. 

From so many modes of changing destinations, each one prefers their own conveniences and comforts, some prioritize luxuries, some go for the thrill of rustic, some lucky to have company, some enjoy solo adventures, some commence the journey at night, others start right before the Sun says hello. Varying seasons, and throughout calendar dates. There are souls that live in their travel adventures, while others that wait to breathe for the get-away. 

Irrespective of how often you travel, how many places you have been to yet, and how many or how few places you have on the list; if you know the vibe of a traveller, if you appreciate each mile and what it offers, if you find yourself in that very moment even now as you have sat on your bed or sofa…we rollin’! 

Of the nights where I would spend my hours admiring the beauty of distant city lights lit like stars, at times when the Moon accepted a race with 12 wheels of VRL, trying to see through the steamed glass, to now as I’m writing this where most recent steamed glass memory is of my spectacles from the N95 mask. You probably have been lucky to see the drivers change that huge tyre with grace and motivation on their faces. Biding adieu after reaching your destination, random conversations with a co-traveller, sharing a packet of nachos, deciding on a dinner menu, adjusting ACs while considering the need of a stranger beside. Once I was honoured to be terrified by a strange man who peeped into my identity card, sat behind with a gap of a seat, looked right at me from a distance of eight seats in between; a stranger who was bare foot at the bus station in Bangalore during summer rains (If you know, you know!) where I commenced my journey, became the reason for my doubt as I saw suspicion in his eyes towards me. It was indeed a movie-like experience, but no one was shooting neither with camera or M16. Then, what a relief it was when he got down at an office confirming his identity of not being a gangster but the ones who catch them. Some travel experiences, however weird they felt then, bring a smile after months of it being passed. Reaching some place at 5am in the morning or reaching a residence at 6:30am to rush for work in an hour, or being thankful for getting that last public transport bus at 12:30 am and locking the door of house at 1am. The silent roads, spotting a drunk man at a distance unaware of your existence, the Moon light that looks after you, city lights that guide your way; and you who do not always get a company, so cherishing your own.

From NH48 to N95, I miss being out and chasing destinations. I miss the sunny mornings where I was out, already in train, I crave for the nights where finding security in a train full of strangers was second priority than trying to understand what perspective they belonged to, the waiting at the crowded railway station, finding a place to stand in local trains, or looking after my luggage at the travel agency. May it be the flex break on a road travel or setting alarm for flights, crossing river in a boat, or seeing the ferry boat arrive, may it be some unexpected road block, much needed halt at McDonald’s, going on kilometres without a break, or having two vada pavs and tapir wali chai keeping aside the otherwise hygiene freak traits that dominate the personality. Random visits to long distanced places or last moment plan for a new place, long planned trip for a go-to destination, catching up with a friend from another state, just a change in air, being one with the light after the tunnel on road, or that specific ashy atmosphere as the train enters a tunnel, for foodies its surely about savouring the different taste. This all, and so much more which is out of the picture and restricted in the current moment, will not be only a thought few months from now. Soon; soon we will be out on the roads, in the air, or floating on the waters… changing locations, visiting places, offering the destination a part of oneself, making connections with the place and people who reside there, reviving the remains of the place and making sure the place remains in us, long after we are gone.  

Look closely and when you re-live the experience, you will realize how you still carry the aspects of places you were drawn to. You will know how much you want to be at the places you haven’t been to, the way the destinations are calling you and how deeply you want to live in between departure and arrival. That, my friend, is what I term as love for travelling and travelling for the love of experience, of being a traveller. Bohemian? Hippie? Yeah! Yeah! All in for exploring, appreciating, connecting, staying & leaving.  For knowing, self and others around, for listening what places say out loud through their silent gestures. 

Life is short to be lived at just one place for entire life. It will surely feel long if you do. But that’s not what free-spirited people feel alive having. Free-spirited is one adjective I use for travellers…What others do you think are most significant of aura that any traveller has? (Let me know in the comment section.) 

Not to leave out, I definitely and infinitely believe and appreciate the security of having a permanent address, of a structure that I can call my home, a person who is a home to me, having my companions: German Shephard and a Husky (One Golden Retriever, too!) who will sit on the back seat like f#cking bosses and slay on our way to beautiful destinations! Returning home after days of travel and having reasons to return; all that is just as beautiful. 

What makes us love traveling? Is it the experiences of moving while having moved eternally? Is it to do with places that wait for us? Are those unmet people who are meant to meet? The connections? The longing? Or not having found a ‘home’? I guess, and I believe; it is about wanting to find the home which anchors us irrespective of how far we go. The home that doesn’t let us drift even when we are miles away. Traveling to understand, the aspects that belong to us and how we associate with them; regardless of how remote it once was. 

As we continue to listen to the places that are calling us, let’s make them feel heard too. Keep your plans ready, modify the ones you already have, add colors to it, more adventure or smooth transaction, comfort or risk, blend of spontaneous and an agenda! Imagine you are already there, until you are going to be. 

Cheers to every traveller out there, to the one in you & me. 

-Love, J.