Travel, to Experience Life

In an earlier post, I talked a bit about why you should travel. Let me go into details of the why, including sharing some of my travel experiences.

Travel is a way to Experience Life - Life beyond our normal routine, life beyond your homes, beyond the usual people you meet. Initially, I thought why do i need this experience; I don’t need it. But as I grew older I realized travel makes you wiser. Gives you the experience to handle life better.

My initial travel were all related to going to temples in various parts of Tamil Nadu. This was my main interest those days. I visited over 80 temples across various parts of the state. Sometimes, packing over a dozen temples in a weekend. My initial travel were all dictated by my work schedule. My mother, who used to accompany me, as she was interested in visiting temples, was the guinea ping in all these experiments. We had travelled by trains, buses, local taxis and autos, sometimes hoping from one temple to another or one town to another.

Some of our experiences:

During a 2-day trip to temples around kumbakonam, I noted the return bus departure time wrongly. My mother and I left the hotel and walked towards the bus stand. I told her we had 30 minutes and can walk the 10 minute distance. On the way, she wanted to pick up some magazines to read in the bus. We took a short detour, and as we were picking the magazines, the travels guy called me and said the bus was ready to depart. I begged him to wait for 10 minutes, paid for the magazines and with 2 bags and mom, rushed towards the bus stand. After 5 minutes, I called the agent and asked for the status. He said the bus had left. We were walking and suddenly I found a bus with destination chennai from the same private operator. I stopped the bus and after giving my name to the conductor asked him it was the same bus that we missed. After getting an earful from him, we got onto the bus. He came again after 10 minutes and told me “ Sir, you should be more careful traveling with an elderly person, so that you don’t rush them”.

Most of the temples that we went in that phase were usually off the usual path. Some were in small towns, others off-beat. During those 2 years, inevitably, every temple we visited around breakfast or lunch time, we were always provided with something to eat by the priest. I used to tell my mother that this was really something divine. We got good food, without fail, and more importantly, without our asking. This only strengthened My faith.

Such experiences make you better. In the first instance, after that, i always double checked my departure times. Always. In the second, reiterated by beliefs. Every similar experience taught me something.

Travel brings in such experiences to you. It will enrich your life. Go on. Pack our bags. Open your minds.