Why you should travel more often! (PART — 1)
To me, traveling has given me a new perspective towards life, definitely a much better one! So much so that I am here today giving you reasons for why you should travel more often.
You see life is very fragile, you will never know when your time will run out. I went to study for Engineering Entrance Exams’ Preparation for a year in Kota. When I returned, my friends asked me, have you visited the Chambal Garden, The Seven Wonders, The Local Kota (All popular places to visit in Kota), I was blank. That day I began questioning, apart from attending the BORING lectures what exactly did I do in my 1 year.
Now, if you are thinking that day I took the resolution that I will travel to the fullest, NAAH. It took a while. The same cycle repeated itself. I got admission for B.Tech in a college at Noida, very close to Delhi. Now Delhi is a very important city for India, It has been the capital for almost all the past rulers, partly because of its better connectivity to other cities. And if you google today, you will find more than 150 places that you can visit in Delhi. But still, for the first 3 out of 4 years, I went nowhere! No place beyond a popular mall in my area.
It was in my final year, There was a girl I very much liked (Yea, this is inspired by a rejection). I meet her on day 1 of my college. In the final year, she and I were making a plan to take a trip together, actually, It was my birthday, she called to wish me. I asked: “let’s go on a trip, I’ve never been out”. She said: “Finally someone said it, I too need a break from college”. So I started looking for a trip destination and sent her a few itineraries to Kasol, Manali, etc. After 2 days, because of some undeniable reasons, she had to call it off. I was like “Great! Another plan being shattered before even made”. I genuinely felt sad, I wanted to go. I did share this with one of my friends, She said, what is the problem? you go on a Solo trip. That idea stayed in my mind. In the evening, I thought about it, called a couple of tour agencies, and booked myself a seat for Kasol for the next week.
I had always heard magical things, mentally and spiritually, happening on a solo trip. I thought let’s check what the fuss is all about. And today I am encouraging you to travel, so as you can guess, something magical did happen, actually not something, a series of events happened, That I will tell you now, one by one:
# You get a chance to reconnect to yourself
There is something we all need to realize, this life we have is temporary, everything you have today, nothing is going to last. We all are just fellow travelers, souls, who are having the human experience. Soon this life of ours will come to an end. And yet, we get too much occupied in the game. We get too obsessed with the numbers that cooperate wants us to hit, that we never question what do we want?
Now, I am not in any way saying you should not get into your work. That is important to have that security. But more important is to realize the significance of it. It is important for you to realize that your work is not your life, it is a part of your life, there is a lot more life has to offer. Even if today, something at work is not fine, you should know, that even if today your work is over does not mean you are over.
But when you are into the game, to are too caught up, you never question anything. It is when you travel, you get a chance to see your life in a third person. You get a very fresh perspective for your goals and visions, and that is something very helpful.
# You can be anyone and not judge yourself
How many times it happens that we want to do something, but are afraid to even try as we don’t want others to judge us. It can be trying on a new dance move, a new hairstyle, a new dressing style, speaking in a different language, talking to the people you like, etc.
Traveling to a new place offers you this flexibility. When you are at a new place, there is no one that knows your past, and there is no one that you will meet again in your life. So even if you try something silliest and fail horribly, there is no one to remember your failure. And a wise man once said, your productivity is on the next level when you are not afraid to fail (Yea, that was me ;P)
Forget about a minor failure, you can even change your whole identity. I always wanted to wear a pug (turban). When I visited Amritsar, I got myself a pug tied at a shop. After that, for everyone, I was a Sardaar. And it was very amusing to see when people were actually talking to me in Punjabi. So the point is you can try ANYTHING new.
# You realize your problems, not too difficult to handle
As I said while traveling you gain a different perspective on your life, goals, vision, etc. It’s like you get to see your life in a third person. When you do so, one thing happens, you also get to see your problems in a third person.
We humans have a habit of playing the victim. It is our survival mechanism. Our brain wants us safe and secure, and to make that happen, it magnifies any possible fear into something too horrible. As the fact remains, You do not feel most scared when you are skydiving, you feel most scared when you are about to skydive. Once you jump, you realize it is the most peaceful experience that has ever happened to you!
It has happened so many times that while playing a video game, I am trying to pass a level, but I just cannot get through it. and then I keep it aside. and when I try again after a few days, I am able to complete the entire level in a snap. So, the point here is, once to get out of the obsessive zone and see things from a fresh perspective, it really improves how you deal with your problems.
Conclusions
There are a lot more things that travel can teach you and I want to share all of that. But I realize this article has already gone too long. So, this has to be an unexpected goodbye. I will soon return with part 2 of this series, Stay tuned!
Until then, You can also check out my youtube channel where I post vlogs and my Instagram @prajwal_agarwal
Cheers!
