Ever
wondered what is the difference between a Tourist and a Traveler ?
As
per a Friend of mine who quoted Paul Theourox
“Tourists
don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going"
That
is a very direct explanation and I am guessing one of the favorites of
all the travelers.
Its
actually the difference between the free spiritedness of the traveler and the
bound sense of the tourist, the unabated willfulness of a Traveler and a
calculated check pointed visit of a Tourist. Let me try to explain more by
my experience:-
I
never came across this realization until only recently.
Few
weeks back I travelled with a bunch of my favorite people i.e. my friends to a
place 1000 miles away from everything that knows any shred of my existence
A
new place, lively people, a new highway and a new destination ... Everything
and mind it everything was having ZNMD feel to it. I am sure my friends must have
had the same feel during the trip too considering how a bunch of simpletons we
are. Love you all for this.
A
distance so big , a ride as if we were chasing the HORIZON and yet with all the
playfulness of a mirage it used to vanish only to appear just few more meters
away , an endless chase , never ending , till we reached the destination
and forgot all about reaching the end of the road.
As
the roads unfold it was like a new story told with thousands of words unspoken
but captured only in the beauty of the surroundings. Mahabaleshwar , a hill
station amidst the clouds and the rains was like a strikingly beautiful woman
draped in the cloud white. It was only when the misty fog used to disburse due
to wind that we could see the actual color of her skin. It was all Black and Green.
Rocky Mountains with a lot of cultivated and wild vegetation. Scenic, like a
postcard straight out of 80s , if you know what I mean.
While
the ecstasy of being at a new place was enough to make us all go crazy but
despite all that may be I only got crazy in my head than in
action.
I
don’t know if I explored much I did not know what was all to be covered but yes
I know that whatever we saw it was all outstanding and out of this world especially
because of the company I had.
Getting
back to the topic ,people like me , still the tourists take travelling or lets
say being at a new place as an achievement secured with a one time effort of
letting go or chilling out but still not letting go of our comfort zones to the
fullest . We still try to stick to it . The best example for this would be the
nostalgia we face during the ending days of the travel to be at our homes and in
our beds or back to the same life and people . The desire to start feeling at
ease or normal again. I had that too.
It
was not until we headed back that I came to know ; When the ascending beauty of
the highway started descending and we started approaching the city back it was
only then that I realized that , the serious mountains , the clouds around them
making them all the more mysterious , the willful tiny waterfalls originating
out of monsoon waters with the least care about whether they
will exist tomorrow or not , the fauna covering the zenith of the
mountains like thick boots , all , all of it was about to go .. And that I hadn’t lived the
place enough.
And
that next time I will take a halt everywhere where I would want to sink it in ,
that next time I would walk the local paths to see the local culture. That next
time I would talk to the local people to know more about the place from them than
from Google. That next time I will not just visit the place to chill but I
would travel.
To
all us tourist if you will ask what was the best feel we will only say it was
the achievement of reaching the destination while to travelers I guess it will be completing a destination and getting on the road again ; Yes it will still be the HIGHWAY.
Signing
Off
Neha
CHAUHAN
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