4 Essential Ingredients Of Quality Travel
Travel is the romance of life. Although it seems like escaping reality, it actually makes us come to terms with ‘reality’. If you are a passionate and a seasoned traveller, you will understand what I am saying. Travel is beyond the idea of recreation and killing the monotony of life. It is a deeper happiness.
After travelling for so many years, I can say that I have attained a small degree in travel. My travel mistakes and misadventures have garnered wisdom and maturity in me. Now, I can call myself a quality traveller! And, it is pretty simple. Quality is far easier to achieve than quantity. You can go to innumerable places and see innumerable things, which may wear you out eventually. On the contrary, if you stick to fewer places and engage in fewer things, it would prove to be more substantial.
So, here’s the recipe of quality travel –
Slow travel
If you want to enjoy travel, keep it slow. Try to stick to a place for at least a week to be able to immerse into the environment. Get up early to watch sunrise, go for walks, sit by a lake, frequent a café, skip a few tourist sites and just do what you feel like doing.
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| Sunrise in Jodhpur |
When I was in Gangtok, I barely did anything to speak of. I simply wandered and observed the shops, people and the local buzz, yet I felt a connection with the city.
Experiences
Travel has little or no meaning without experiences. Whenever you set foot on a new land, make sure to explore it with an open mind and try to embrace whatever comes your way. Travel is full of wonderful surprises. For instance, you could get a chance to participate in a local tradition or someone could invite you for a cup of tea. Such unique things add quality to your life as a traveller.
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| Cultural experiences in Jaisalmer |
I had a fabulous time in a village of Darjeeling, when I had breakfast at a local’s home.
Conversations
Talking to people is the most amusing part of travel. You don’t really have to be an extrovert to do that. There is a difference between being friends and being friendly. I’m an introvert, but I recently discovered a new side of me that loves to interact with people. I love mingling with people who belong to different regions, beliefs and cultures. It gives you a chance to discover the real essence of a place.
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| Tea and conversations |
My dining table conversations with my host in Kurseong revealed a lot about the region, its history, its people and the challenges they face as a community, their mentality, lifestyle and traditions.
Learning
I would like to use one of my favourite quotes to express my viewpoint – “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled.” It’s such a beautiful quote and it sums up my thought perfectly. Each time you embark on a new journey, you learn something out of it. There are a few things that you learn by chance – it could be through a mishap or an unforeseen circumstance, while there are other more meaningful lessons that you learn if you really care to learn.
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| Quiet introspection and learning |
The biggest and the most valuable lesson that I have learnt through these years is that life is beyond our desires and insecurities. I have learnt to see life with a broader outlook. So, I’d say that don’t ever keep learning out of perspective.
Do you have something to say? How do YOU define quality travel?
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