MY TRAVEL JOURNAL
Why I should start
scripting my Travel Experiences and why I fell in love with Traveling!!!
It is a Sunday evening and I am just sitting in my bedroom
with my laptop. I just read a couple of blogs written by a friend of mine who
is a hardcore traveler. I happened to read a few more blogs written by a solo
woman traveler who is connected to my friend through a blog conference.
Traveling has become quite prominent these days with many youngsters realizing
that they live not just to earn and save some money but also to experience
varied things in life. Traveling is one such activity which provides you maximum
varied experiences. I used to hate traveling as a kid due to motion sickness.
This made me get switched off from the external world and I forced myself to
sleep rather than get immersed in the beauty that the nature had to offer me. I
still have this problem (especially while traveling to hillstations or while
traveling by a car) but sometimes, I forget it when I get immersed in nature’s
beauty and the vibrant experiences that the world offers when I set my
foot out of my shell.
Traveling was nothing great to me. And I never understood
why people loved to travel. After all you have to get out of your comfort
zones, get involved doing something and your body takes a hit when you travel
for long or go zig-zag in those giddy hill stations!!! So it was not my cup of
tea. I was never fascinated by going abroad or to exotic locations. My weekends
were mostly spent visiting my friends, family and relatives or hanging out for
parties, movies, dinners, etc.
I work as a banker in a Private Sector bank at their Head
Quarters in Mumbai. As part of my job assignment, I was given targets to ensure
the branch banking relationship managers achieve their sales targets in
cross-selling Insurance and Mutual Funds products. Hence, there is a contest
run bank-wide for the sales teams which ensures them a reward of a foreign trip
in case they achieve their respective targets. In January 2014, I was not only
given my targets, but along with the sales teams, I was told that if my targets
get achieved, I would get to go on an International trip as well - along with
the sales guys. This made my job interesting. I was told that the location was
none other than Dubai!!! Now, this is when I really wanted to exceed well
because I just wanted to get there. By now, my hatred to traveling molded into
indifference. Dubai is one location which I could have visited anytime since my
dad was working in Abu Dhabi. But due to our family circumstances, we never got
the time or the opportunity to visit this beautiful place. Hence, I thought,
even if I could not go with my family, I shouldn’t lose the opportunity of
going there when my company is sponsoring my trip. More than the excitement of
visiting this exotic location was my strong urge to prove that we can achieve
our targets!!! That got me going!!! That made me drive the business crazily,
passionately and whole-heartedly!!! Alas... I QUALIFIED!!! For the 2nd
level. Hence, I go to go there for 5 days which would have been 3 days
otherwise.
Now, as the trip was nearing, I got into a sort of
depression due to personal issues. As the trip was nearing, my urge to travel
was dying and I just wanted to sort out my issues. My entire week prior to my travel date was ruined. The day I had to travel, I
was in a completely messed up state – hadn’t packed my bags, thought of
cancelling my trip and was just sitting at home immersed in my negative thoughts.
I had no intention of throwing myself into this beautiful experience. But, thanks to
my great friends who helped me get some sleep before the trip (as I hadn't slept for 3 days continuously) helped me pack, got my visa printed, booked my cab and helped
me through the procedures at the airport that I finally boarded the flight ! If my friends weren't there, I would have not been to Dubai !
What I experienced in Dubai was a completely exhilarating
phase of my life!!! In detail, I will explain it in my future blogs. But I must
say that Dubai trip was kind of a healing one for me. I not just enjoyed there
but also came out of my depression, forgot my problems and it just threw a
whole new world in front of me. Dubai made me fall in love with the world.
Dubai made me forget my problems. Dubai made me realize that I loved
traveling!!!
And with that trip, I went on to explore the world not
leaving out a single opportunity. I happened to go to Abu Dhabi as well during
the same trip. Post this, I visited numerous locations in the last 1.5 years –
Kolad, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Sri Lanka, Goa, Nashik,
Delhi, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Singapore, etc. Yes, these
many places in the last 1.5 years !!! I can’t believe myself that I am
traveling so much. I have become the complete opposite of what I was. And I am
really happy and thankful for what I have become.
I have started following travel blogs, travel pages, magazines,
watching travel videos, etc. Whenever I hear someone talking of their travel
plans, my ears just pop out. Many at times, my friends and colleagues just end
up asking me which is the next destination I am off to. Wooooowwww!!! I am just
loving every bit of it. I want to travel the world. I want to experience
whatever is out there. And everything that is out there. This life might not be
enough. But I do not want to waste a single opportunity. Thank you Lord, for
making Dubai happen. Thank you my company for sponsoring a few of my trips
which made me realize my passion for TRAVEL.
It is totally mesmerizing to be lost in one’s own path of
travel. But I feel satisfied, only when I share my experiences with U, with the
WORLD. And hence, here I am – going to script my travel experiences – MY TRAVEL
JOURNAL will be up soon!!!
SKY IS MY ROOF,
EARTH IS MY BED,
WHERE I GO IS MY HOME
-
Someone
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