Travelling is not a new
thing. The Greeks would travel
extensively to parts of Africa and Asia, partly for trade but also to develop and learn
new things that they could take back with them. For example, they would learn
about the diverse native herbs and vegetation and the different animals that
lived there, and understand how different medicine and new science can effect life, and
bring these new ideas back home with them.
The Empires of the past understood the importance of travelling and
getting the breadth and perspective of different ideas and learning and getting
inspiration from others who gave a different perspective on theories.
Life varies extensively from
country-to-country, continent-to-continent, not just from town to cities. The Seychelles and Somalia are approximately 1,500 kilometres apart but have an amazing breadth of culture
that if you visited you would not think you were on the same planet, let alone
same region. In India you have a lot of black
Africans who live in the south and are decedents of black Africans who came
over centuries ago as salves and warriors.
This legacy is still seen today and they consider themselves Indian. These are the subtle but also
striking observations that you learn from travelling.
Another reason for the joy of
travelling is to witness stuff that is on the decline.
There are vast amounts of forests in Madagascar and South America that
is being deforested as humans have expanded their manmade boundaries. This has resulted in more and more people
wanting to travel to these parts of the world, not only to see rare and unique
creatures and wildlife but to assist in countering the destruction we are doing
to Mother Nature.
We are not just destroying
forests and natural wildlife because of globalisation but also because of
growing vaccinations and the exploding population. Forests and land are not just being taken over by
large corporations wanting to buy it for investment but also by local people
clearing the land for agriculture and their family to live on. We are also desperate to take advantage of
resources at our local disposable. This is why pirates off the Somali coast, in
the Indian Ocean, want to protect their fish for themselves rather than see
large Chinese and American merchants fish for them who in their eyes, are
effectively stealing what they believe belongs to them.
Twenty to thirty years ago people
wanted a nice holiday in Spain and sit on a beach. Now scores of people are travelling to more
exotic faraway places, not just to relax and visit museums but to meet people. And it is the people that make the place what it is. One of the joys about travelling is meeting
people. The mundane detail of everyday life
is very poetic. When I have been to
India, seeing the people in the market decide which fabric to buy for the sari,
discussing religion over chai on the side of the road or bartering over the
price of vegetables were often the most revealing.
The ability to understand another
person’s language and there life makes it far more interesting and enjoyable
and brings the experience more to life. That
feeling of connection makes it more interesting and easier to convey to
others. Speaking the language also gives
you far more opportunities to connect and learn more about the people, the
sites and the history.
I have not travelled as much as I
would have liked (but that is changing) but I know if I had not been to India
or visited parts of Europe, writing and talking about those places would not be as easy if
I had just seen it on television or read it in a book. I have friends who have worked to South
East Asia, travelled to Africa and lived in South America, and when sharing stories
about their experiences it is not just a 2-dimentional narrative of what they
did. What I have loved and become
overwhelmed by is there descriptive narrative of what they smelt and how it
made them feel which makes it more enjoyable.
This is not just for me to hear but also for themselves in reminiscing their
experience.
It is difficult
to write and share with others about a place if you have not experienced
it. If you have not experienced living
in a make-shift tent in the middle of the desert in Africa or on a beach hut in
Thailand it is difficult for you to really
understand what it is like for the people who have to live in those conditions
all the time to feel. It increases the
admiration for the people.
What is the
driving force for people to travel? To
begin with, it is often the experience and the romantic view we have of our
wonderful world. As a boy I was a young adventurer and would ride my bike around the villages, and now I plan
to take it further by spending time in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Islands.
Nowadays you do not
need a lot of money to travel and people see this as a challenge. When I go Down Under I would like to spend
time in an indigenous part of Australia and live like the locals who do not
need a lot of money to survive as they hunt and gather their food themselves. These local people do not see their
environment as a threat, rather they see it as their home and they will teach others
how to survive in those conditions.
It is one thing
looking at friend’s holiday snaps but it is completely different going and
experiencing this for ourselves. The
intensity of having been there makes people want to go back and experience more. Cutting out other people’s perceptions of places
is good; and building your own views and perception of it and exposing
yourself to these environments and react like a human being make people
stronger and wiser.
Travelling is
the fasted way of developing and acquiring yourself. By learning and making your own experience
will stick with you for the rest of your life and you can share this with your family and friends.
You are not going to get the same level of intense experience from television
or from a book, no matter how good the programme is but at least it will spur
you on. When you are on holiday you are
relying on your animal senses (smell, sight, instinct) as this alien
environment is testing you.
Travelling is
exciting.
