“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” ~ Jack Kerouac, On the Road
History witnessed that whenever a traveler pursued exploring, a new world emerged. Such is the power of traveling. Marco Polo voyages played a key role in introducing Central Asia and China to Europeans.
Journeys of Christopher Columbus resulted in a connection between Europe and America in a way that it influenced the development of the modern western world. Ibn Battuta became a traveler to be a storyteller. These travelers gave the world gemstones, newfound countries and stories.
Humans have to travel. Having said that, humans evolved because of their nomadic nature. People traveled in Dark Age. People traveled to Modern age. And it is not the final destination. Traveling is transcendental and its repercussions are boundless.
Travel in joy. Travel in remorse. Travel in oblivion. Travel when nothing and everything makes sense.
Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” He further added, “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
We unravel the mysterious parts of our soul to ourselves when we are on a journey. Traveling never goes to waste/uncultivated as we never return unlearned. It changes you inside out each time you go to a place unknown.
On many of my traveling journeys, I realized, in the larger scheme of universe everything makes sense, which we tend to forget during the monotonous routine of our lives. We worry. We scream and make ourselves crazy. Traveling acquaints you with the fact that nothing is worth going berserk and bonkers.
Interesting video that shows the story of man who started living out of his suitcase, qnd how travel broadened his perspective and enriched his life –
Ibn Battuta, Moroccan explorer and one of the greatest travelers of all the times, became a storyteller after traveling to Africa, Asia and Europe. Battuta covered 44 countries and startlingly 73,000 miles. For a 14th century traveler, it must be a phenomenal journey.
We miss on exciting stories because of the convenience given to us by modern day transport. Anyway gadgets have replaced human interaction. When was the last time you made a friend on a flight or spoke to a stranger for hours while on a train to your destination? Isn’t the journey more important than the destination?
Psychologists claim that traveling, usually, involves deeper emotional goals. Everyone has a desire to achieve a sense of freedom and a sense of unlimited probabilities. Every time I was in trouble on a journey, I have managed to deal with it single-handedly.
I learned to have faith in myself and every time I was stuck in a situation, I could calm down and trust my ability to figure it out. Traveling leads to discovering new horizons internally and externally.
When we travel from one country to another or even within our country, the gradual shifts in multiple aspects of our life makes us uncomfortable, teaching us to be more compassionate towards our fellow human beings. It helps one in delayering their skin of ego and pride. We understand the value of the words “Please”, “Sorry” and “Thank you” in a foreign country.
We appreciate the fact that we are all made of the same energy and matter. We feel similar emotions.
And as Rumi said, “ The soul is here for its own joy.”
There is a difference between a luxurious vacation and traveling. Vacation is the pleasurable component of traveling. It is an attempt to escape from the monotonous routine of the life. Traveling on the other hand is exhausting. It is soul probing and mind storming in nature. On the road, you are constantly in conversation with yourself.
George Santayana on the Philosophy of Traveling, “We need sometime to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what.”
So, embrace you wanderlust and seek that part of yourself that you don’t know exists. Look at the sky, dance with the moon and smile at the sun
Image Source and for further reading:
The lost traveler
Travel globes