“I want to travel the world,” is a fancy thought that I used to have often. As fancy and common as it sounds, I really never wondered the feasibility aspect of accomplishing it. Monetary obstacles are well laid out without saying, but I looked within myself to ask, do I really want to do that? After careful introspection, I realized, maybe not as much as the social world expects me to. So, what made me change? What is my thought process? Why did I give up on it? Myriad questions that need an answer and one word to sum it all : my transformation.
I recently read an article that talks about a survey done among Indian travellers. It states that 38% of travellers do so, not because they have an undying love for travel, but because they want to talk about it in their social circle. In other words, put up photos on Instagram/Facebook to purely, ‘show off.’ People want to travel because others are travelling.
Wow, this news is least bit shocking! It does not come as a surprise to me. It is pretty easy to identify who these people are among the circle of people you know or are acquainted with. I mean, you have to know them in person, to identify which one of these get fodder from social media. I can guarantee you that if i ask you to think of one person who does this, you will at least have a couple of folks popping in your mind! See! It’s that simple. You can identify the stars that belong to this category of solely waiting for approval from their social circle.
As a kid, my concept of travelling was during the summer and Christmas vacations. I travelled with my family to my native place and we pretty much spent our whole vacation there. It was fun and definitely memorable as I can fondly recall them even now. We did not have any concept of visiting new places, the aim was to visit your parent’s hometown for we were residing outside Kerala. My parents definitely found this as a break from their mundane routine and for me and my brother, it was a religious thing that we did every vacation. As I got older, things naturally changed and there were no fixed vacations, so our religious visits changed and somewhere in between, the concept of travelling across the globe started gaining popularity..
I don’t remember when the travel bug started infecting everyone especially the ones in their mid-20s to the ones in their 30s. I wouldn’t say I aspired to travel the world but yes I did think travel is the coolest thing. With our fast-paced stressful lifestyle that gradually made its way into our daily lives, a need to escape this on a regular basis took shape and that was predominantly through travel. Thanks to social media, this concept started getting glamorized to make it look like an essential need in everybody’s lives.
I wouldn’t deny the need for travel and how it is essential to plan regular ones but I am not going to believe that to be the sole purpose of my existence. Maybe it is for the ones who are able to sort different things, people and events in their lives; and also for the ones for whom money & its related factors does not lie as an obstacle. But, for me, maybe at this point in my life (financial and family status), though i would love to, I am not going to fret over it if I am unable to. I will love the experience of travel with my dear ones, but it’s not necessary that it has to be to different parts of the globe. I live in a beautiful country that I have not explored thoroughly, and maybe I should start small and cover them in steps. I don’t want to deter anyone from making plans but don’t do it because others are doing it. Be a wise person and understand what and why you want to do it, making sure you exempt social media as a reason. If you are unable to answer that, here’s a simple question to help you decide. Can you travel to a different city or country for a trip, and not post or boast anything about it on social media or to your circle who wasn’t a part of it? If your honest answer to that is yes, then yes go ahead, you do love travelling for its actual intent. Else, take a moment, maybe you need to re-think. Your aim of travelling is not for yourself. It’s for others! Don’t be that 38%.
