Travel

Now there is a positive and a negative attached to everything, the two sides of the coin that the (clueless) noble souls keep talking about.  How do I know about this binary nature of all things travel? I experienced it. Just yesterday!

Lets start with the bit that I want to spend the rest of my life forgetting; the not so good ( but could have been worse) bit. Here goes

There is this nagging feeling that devours all peace of mind, it eats away at the layers of self-confidence and happy anticipation even before you board the train. Don’t ignore it. That’s your gut telling you ‘ Adventure is good, alright, but hey baby, baby its a wild world’. I had a lot of it on this dare-devil trip.

Travel is supposed to be relaxing. It’s supposed to fill the vacuüm and clear away the rubble. It’s supposed to be  simple happiness. It’s a place ( pun un intentional) you go to, to find yourself, re discover forgotten strengths and explore new possibilities. It is not supposed to wear you down. It’s not supposed to make you jump off the train ( at the platform, just clarifying) , rush to the nearest airport  and sprint to the booking window and scream “Get me the hell out of here!” Then after hours of delays when you finally get home, shut the door and drop your back pack and sit on the floor with your back against the door  you smile for the first time in days.

 Travel is not supposed to do that. 

Then there is the proverbial silver lining.

When everything is going wrong. When every day you fight with that part of you which wants to turn back, head home to all things familiar and safe. When you are exhausted even before you wake up. When you have tears in your eyes. When you are alone. When you feel alone in an all crowded train. When you begin to  wonder why God bothered with Adam when He should have got to Eve first and then been done with creation.  That’s when you come across something that makes it worthwhile. Sometimes its a towering fort lined with turquoise elephants. At times it’s as simple as a  perch with a stunning view. And when you sit there and all the things that have happened from the time you boarded the train till that moment flash across your mind, the lesson reveals itself. It tells you “Adventure might hurt you, but monotony will kill you.”