Travel Diaries - The Trailer

"Once a year, go some place you've never been before" - Dalai Lama

The deeply revered and highly respected Dalai Lama was two hundred percent right when he made this profound statement.

Most of the populace have the perception that travel is an unnecessary expenditure or that travelling is a waste of money or a form of much-needed break to bring themselves from the brink of death due to their routine, tedious, listless and tiresome work/school lives so that they can revive and rejuvenate themselves.

According to me, travelling is a wholesome learning experience which pushes the boundaries of our rigid and hardened mental thought process to brighter and newer avenues which makes you to be open to fresher insights that life has to offer to us. Some have told me that it would be boring to learn even during vacation time. My take is that learn the right things but do it with fun and enjoyment so that you don't feel that a millstone is tied around your neck when you try something afresh.

Ever since a kid, I have been exposed to different kinds of destinations - from the usual and standard Ooty, Kodaikanal, Munnar, Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram to places of immense beauty as Taj Mahal, Jaipur Palace to more breath-taking, pun intended, places like Gangtok, Kullu-Manali, Shimla to holy places like Vaishno Devi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath, Kedarnath et al - I had visited them during my summer holidays when I was a kid. So, I was not a tyro when it came to visiting places or undergoing hardships during the course of the journey as in lack of food and sleep, extreme weather, knee and back aching bus travels etc.

My interest piqued further when one of my Team Leads at TCS had extensively travelled to wonderful and scenic spots in Europe during his tryst with his MBA in Netherlands. After slogging and clocking many a 7 day-a-week work schedule during critical delivery periods, I was actually looking for the right opportunity to ask my Boss for a two week break from work after he had given me a good appraisal during my yearly performance review which would be held during March-April. Unfortunately, my personal reasons forced me to resign from a prestigious organization as TCS. To clear my highly and heavily cluttered head, I resorted to what I liked to do - Travel.

For the first time in my life, I was completely free and totally uninhibited to do what and whatever I wanted to do in my life. There were infinite possibilities that were strewn in front of me like hay before a cow. I could have easily taken up to smoking, drinking, drugs or prostitutes. But, my moral compass was so strong that I took it as a test to my integrity laid out by God. By saying this, I am not saying directly or indirectly that whoever resorts to cigarettes, booze, weed or indulging with women of loose character to be wrong or bad. Every action has a consequence. Whether it's good action or bad consequence - that's the individual's choice. I wisely chose the right decision knowing how a wrong or even a potentially wrong action could affect everyone especially myself.

What I wanted was simple in this soul-searching expedition - have a sense of adventure infused with spiritualism so that it will lighten the immense burden in my heart and head that was giving me an extremely hard time. Though I fully left the tour itinerary to my travel operators, none of my traveled places were actually planned other than Dubai. It was mostly from other fellow passengers' suggestions and recommendations that I thought about my next place outside Tamil Nadu. 

While Dubai, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Ladakh were meticulously planned by various tour operators, I chose to roam around Goa in the rented blue Dio on my own free will to be a pure traveller who is not tied to any ball and chain of the taut schedules.

The first tryst was to Dubai. Followed by Goa. Then, Thekkady. Following closely on the heels were temples of worship as Madurai, Kumbakonam, Trichy, Kanchipuram and Pondicherry. Engaged in a full-fledged Vipassana course @ Tiruvannamalai. Hong Kong and Thailand were next in line which was trailed by the Leh-Ladakh excursion. Finally, as a treat to my mom, I went to Singapore and ended my self-introspection Globetrotting cum Indiatrotting sojourn.

In Tamil, we have a figurative saying "Kashmir mudhal Kanyakumari varai". It means a very long distance. I rephrased it as "From Ladakh to Kanyakumari" as Ladakh is even more further than Kashmir!  The only thing which was missed out in this entire journey was the brilliant reddish-orange hues of sunrise and sunset in Kanyakumari. But, since I had already seen it earlier in my life, it did not matter and bother me much.

However, there were plenty of adventures like being almost trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants during a night time dare, an arduous trekking of almost 40 kms, parasailing in Pattaya, skipping with joy at the magical marvels of Disneyland, feeding a tiger, surfing & sailing, stunning panoramic view atop the Burj Khalifa, riding the fastest roller coaster in the world, enjoying the dry and cold winds of Ladakh's serene Buddhist monasteries, sizzling Singapore beauty and friendly Indianized atmosphere - this break off was indeed worth every penny, sorry rupee, for which I intended to travel in the first place - to ease the pain and torment that I was undergoing prior to TCS's resignation.

However, there is one place, sorry many places, that are still pending in my bucket list which I would love to visit at least once in my life whenever time and money permits:

a) Igloo Room in Greenland/Iceland and immerse in the dazzling colourful palettes of Aurora Borealis

b) Water Bungalow in the pristine, glistening and sun-kissed beaches of Maldives/ Bora Bora

c) Have a date with the Penguins in their own natural settings of the frigid white sheets in the magnificent Antarctica

d) Bungee Jumping and Glowing Caves in the adventure capital of the world - New Zealand

e) Skydiving in Dubai , Scuba Diving in Indonesia/Andaman, Hot Air Ballooning anywhere picturesque in the world

f) A true African Safari in Kenya meeting the Lions and Giraffes running and hunting feral

g) Get absorbed and captivated by the riveting architecture of the history rich Rome and Venice
    (Ofcourse, Dan Brown is the main inspiration!)

h) Swisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

i) Las Vegas 

j)  Finest cruise in the world

k) Russia
l)  Have the majestic Lord Siva's Darshan @ Mt. Kailash

Any other place which I feel worthy enough to be added in my bucket list shall be done as and when exposed to newer places and experiences through books and movies.

PS:

So, why is this called trailer? Because the main picture lies in the splendid mock-tail of adventures and spiritualism which I had the chance to glimpse, thanks to God's grace, courtesy the jam-packed itineraries prepared by the various trip advisers during the course of all my backpacking self-reflection jaunt. The big picture - Coming soonnnnnn...!! :)