By this post, I will attempt to talk about this ‘ wanderlust’ which affects us. On reflecting, I realized that not just the humans; but even a lot of migratory animals are affected by it. Specifically, some birds never stay put in one place all their life. Perhaps that is why they have wings; so that they can fly?
How many times have you wanted to be someplace else as opposed to where you are right now? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a place you want to travel to, it could simply be a shopping mall, a cinema, a park or a yearning for some fresh air.
Travel is just a part of the Wish:
The yearning to travel is just a part of the whole scenario.
Is it just me or everyone feels like there is something out there to be experienced, discovered and lived. Not that there is anything wrong with the way we are living our present lives but there is a vacuum, a chasm ; if you will, somewhere deep inside which can only be filled by this pursuit of the desire to discover something which hitherto is unknown. Think about the gazillion cultures, tribes, cults, religions, places and tales just waiting to be explored, exposed and revealed!!!
At this point, it would be wrong not to mention the Inner Travel and Outer Travel.
According to me, any travel experience which entails travelling to any place, we are not familiar with would constitute two things on a basic level, an inner experience and an outer experience.
The outer experience would embrace the aesthetic beauty which we will see, natural like beautiful beaches, valleys, mountains and also manmade like beautifully designed buildings and cultural architecture.
However, the inner experience responds directly with the soul. So, you not only see things with your eyes but also with your soul… There is something about the sight of the magnificent ocean or the never-ending snow-covered mountain range, which communicates with you at an atavistic level. It strikes you at a spiritual level and makes you realize how insignificant you really are, how trivial your sorrows and pains, how ludicrous your struggles…..
Every travel experience changes something about you or rather teaches you something about yourself you didn’t know, the reason being that we are faced with unfamiliar circumstances and situations , things we are not used to and the way we react to them acquaints us with a part of our personality we didn’t know existed. So it really helps us grow. Every travel has changed me a little, my perspective in certain things. It makes you aware about new things; things you didn’t know existed or cared about before, perhaps.
Does it signify a yearning for Freedom/ Emancipation?
Could this mean that the human soul really desires freedom when it wants to discover new things, new places , new people? Freedom to live beyond their societal boundaries by assimilating with different cultures and different ways of life? Maybe the soul was really not meant to live in these manmade boundaries, these boundaries which define how to live and how not to live.
What is strange is that every culture has a specific way to live and deal with things, so which one is really the correct way? How do we know that?
At this point, my saner self tells me, hey everything you wish to know and discover is right beside you, with you and around you. But how will I know that unless I do this, unless I give into this wanderlust and see where it takes me?
Arctic Tern 