My Umpteen thoughts: Teddy Travels

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Teddy Travels

Hello Reader,

I was travelling in a train, on my way back to home, and I happened to be in conversation with a co-passenger. We talked about random topics and then she asked me about my hobbies. I said I love travelling. But, she seemed a little dissatisfied with my short answer and asked “That’s all?” And I said yes.

Then I explained to her in the best possible way that what I summarised in one word, ‘travel’ is not just about travelling from one place to another, exploring new cities and countries, physically but, travelling could be reading a book, watching a movie, reading various blogs, writing, listening to some amazing music, playing a piano or talking to a stranger on a train journey. And after accomplishing any of such related task one does learn something new, always. One would gather a new kind of experience or wisdom after ‘travelling’ and some of the mentioned travels could have life-changing effect on many people. They would transcend to a whole universe listening to a piano recital or any music they love, reading books or watching movies takes you to places and situations which one may not even face in their real life but would be prepared to face it, reading blogs, talking to new people can be helpful in knowing different perspectives and opening up an insular mind-set and writing kindles creativity and imagination.

So, in short, travelling makes one learn new lessons and teaches one to not just survive but to live.

It is always enjoyable to travel with friends and family but if you are accompanied with some children, your experience would have a totally different perspective. Children look at things differently and they perceive everything with their innocent eyes. They learn a lot more than what their textbooks can ever teach them.

I remember my trip to North India with my Parents and relatives, which covered places like Jammu, Manali, Shimla and Chandigarh. I was an 8-year-old then and I still have many vague memories of that time. Donning a jute hat and holding a wooden stick, taller than me, to support, I refused to take any help of the bearers or the nags, to walk the 18 Kms of hilly roads to Vaishnav Devi Temple, all by myself. It was my first experience as a child to be so close to the nature. I was observing new kind of people, their habits and the way they talked was all different from the usual lot I met otherwise. I watched the mountains for the first time ever. At Rohtang pass, I played in the snow and walked on the hanging bridge over the rapidly flowing river Beas. Even the taste of apples was different there. It also helps to understand the geography of what is where.

This is me.

So, if one is travelling with kids, there will be a lot of scope for one to learn from them and also teach them. Kids have a lot of enthusiasm to learn, while their mind is still in the growing ages. You take them to new places, to the historic monuments, to the science museums and they will always pick up new things. Because, being at their home and their everyday journey to school and back to home, they may learn the theories of a few concepts but the actual taste of life and the more practical lessons and realizations can only be learnt with travelling and experiences.

I would like to share a quote by Mark Twain to sum up my say.