The Vagrant Gypsy Life

Why do I travel?

Ever since I took the decision to take some time off from work and hit the road with my trusted backpack, I have had many different reactions to the decision. Some think that it is a wonderful adventure, one they wish they could undertake. Some, like my father, dont quite understand it. To them, it is a waste of time. The folks who have asked me why I travel probably never wondered that I ask myself that same question, many a time over the past 4 months of travel; I also asked myself that question during the time I was making my decision to quit the “real” world. Why do I travel?

It will not surprise most of my friends that I do not really have an answer. But here are some of my thoughts on it.

I travel because I enjoy it. I travel because sometimes I feel so restless, that only by moving around can I put my mind at rest. I travel for the new experiences, to give my brain something new to digest. My normal life is so much driven by routine, that I fear that my brain will one day stop taking things in. I travel, because, for me, it is also an escape from reality! Who doesnt want a short escape from reality and the responsibilities that arise from living in a social setup.

I travel because it makes me deal with circumstances that seldom arise at home. It forces me to be independent, while also putting me in a situation where I have no option but to be sociable. I always hope that travel, meeting and talking to strangers on the road, will help me improve my poor social skills. (Ah, the stereotype of the socially awkward engineer..)

A friend asked if I am travelling to find myself. I wish it were so. I wish I still could believe in a life of certainties where life offers answers. At my age, one realises that finding oneself is a fantasy one has when one is young and naive.

I am not your amazingly fearless adventurer. I am your average, boring individual.

I enjoy the feeling of adventure that comes with arriving at a new place. I enjoy listening to people talk in a language I dont understand, without feeling guilty about eavesdropping. I listen, not to the conversation, which is beyond me, but to the cadence of the speech.

I enjoy that I can slow my life down to a crawl, while the speed of rotation (of the earth) does not change, the people around me live life at a pace that matches that of one´s normal life.

In the end, I like the answer that Sir Edmund Hillary gave when some reporter asked him why he climbed Mount Everest: “Because it is there”. I travel because there is literally a whole world out there… I travel because I can.

I realise that not everyone can do it, for whatever reasons. I am well aware of my good fortune, and strive to not be a bad traveller. I try to talk to people, am polite to people I meet, to try and eat at a local restaurant, to not throw rubbish on the streets.

How?

I also got a lot of questions on how I travel: what I do when I get to a city, how I find out about things to do and sights to see, how I decide where to stay, what to do, etc.

Travel these days is quite easy, but it can still be challenging enough to be fun. I read travel guides, websites before my trip. When I arrive in a city, if possible, I go by the tourist office to ask for a map and for advice. I stay in hostels and ask the folks at the hostel about things to do and places to visit. I have discovered places that never came up in my research from websites or books, from suggestions of fellow travellers.

For me, the best way to explore a place is to grab a map and then walk. But then, I like to walk. Sometimes, it is even fun to walk down areas one normally wouldnt go as a tourist.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 at 09:17 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.