Why I travel and why you should

Travel  has different definitions for different people. Some people travel to get away from the madness of their mundane everyday lives, some do it to enjoy the sheer madness of travel.

The dictionary offers some help here.

Travel is

1. to make a journey, typically of some length.

2. to move, typically in a constant or predictable way.

If you think about it, we travel every day. We travel to work, we travel to the coffee shop, we travel to meet family. But neither the speaker nor the listener dwell on that any longer than how much time it takes for a scoop of ice cream to melt in the microwave.

When I tell someone that I am just back from my travels, their minds instantly start imagining the places I saw, the photographs I took and the experiences I had. Or at least they want to know more. "Tell me about some crazy things you did on your travel?", "How did you find travelling alone?", "How did you travel for 2 months!?" are some of the questions I got when I backpacked for 2 months, alone.

Sitting on Lake Bohinj in Slovenia shooting the Ducks and the sunset

I have some beautiful memories of the experiences I had, not just with people, but with myself.

As I think back and put some of those memories into words, I am reminded of the time when I was travelling through Europe and I left my Passport behind in Brno, a quaint city in the Czech Republic.

  

 Most hotels or hostels in Europe do not allow bookings without a Passport. I realised that I had left my passport behind after I reached my next destination, a good 5-hour bus journey away. Not wanting to be stranded on the streets in a foreign land in peak winter, I picked my bag up and took a bus back to Brno to get my passport.

My constant companion sitting pretty in Bled, Slovenia

I used to have my own ritual on the bus - Settle down with a book I was reading on an Amazon Kindle which I had borrowed from a friend, drink a cup of delicious hot chocolate they used to serve on the bus, read some more and then peacefully fall asleep.

On my journey back after collecting my passport, true to my ritual, I fell asleep after the hot chocolate and some reading and when I reached my destination, still half asleep, conveniently forgot to pick up my Amazon Kindle kept on the seat. Wow! I just go back to collect a Passport I had left behind, and now I leave another prized possession on the bus. The day was a mixture of emotions; relief for having got my passport back, agony for losing the Amazon Kindle.

As it so happens, I contacted the bus agency to send it to my cousin who lives in The Netherlands who then handed it over to someone coming to India after a gap of about 3 months.

When I finally received it, I was pleased to find it in perfect condition and a sticker on top which read

Brno - České Budějovice  - 7 AM

The journey I had taken 3 months ago!

Instantly, my mind raced through the bus journeys, the hot chocolates and the book I was reading at that time.

Reading peacefully on a bench in Pisa

"That's why, travel, for me, is a state of mind. It's a state of mind which transports you and the listener, albeit vicariously,  to the excitement and exhilaration."

When I travel, I live in that moment. I enjoy an absolute sense of calm and quiet. I find new places and new people exciting. The sense of the unknown is encouraging. Because in our everyday lives, we always meet people we know and go to places we have gone to dozens of times. After a while, our lives lose the excitement we once had as kids. Mundane is the new fad. When we travel, however, we go out of our comfort zone and head into something unknown.

Stop, admire and breathe

On my travels, I have met some very interesting people and connected with them like we knew each other from a very long time. It has opened my mind to various new perspectives and ideas.

In Venice, I met a guy from California who still photographs using film cameras, something you would never see in your everyday life back home, well at least in this digital age. He shared some fascinating images and I came back inspired to think for a moment and imagine the picture I want before I hit the shutter button.

Visualise the scene before you shoot

In Budapest, when I was lighting my cigarette, I saw someone looking at me intently. Well, it turned out that I was lighting it the wrong way. The cigarette forgotten, this led to 10 minutes of small talk where we both realised that we were photographers of different styles. I do more of wildlife and she was a beautiful portrait photographer. She loved my pictures and  was appreciative of the beautiful wildlife India offers and my photographs. Her  emboldening words made my day and to this day, I can recall every moment of that conversation.

When you travel, you almost forget your everyday life. The tensions vanish, the deadlines go for a toss and you are yourself again. When you come back to your everyday life, you wish you travel again very soon. How often do you come back from work and wish you were back at work soon?

If I had to rephrase the meaning of travel, I would say that

Travel is

1. to make a journey into the unknown, of any length

2. to move, typically in an unpredictable way.

"So travel, get away from your boring lives every
now and then, see new places, meet new people
and come back richer from the experience. "

As somebody rightly said,

"Travel , as far, as wide and as much as possible,

Work ridiculous shifts to save your money,

Go without the latest iPhone,

Throw yourself out of your comfort zone,

Find out how other people live & realise that the world is a much bigger place than the town you live in.

And when you come home,

home may still be the same,

and yes, you may go back to the same old job,

but something in your mind will have changed."

You may not have too much money when you come back, but wouldn't you have experiences for posterity - something which is truly yours, which no one
other than you has access to, than money, which can be
stolen or passed on to your kids when you die?

George Bernard Shaw echoing a traveller's thoughts

Gaurav Rajaram is a photographer from Bangalore who is passionate about travelling, teaching and writing. 

He teaches Accounting and Direct Tax to students pursuing the Chartered Accountancy (CA) Course. You can read more about him and what he does for a living here