Is it so different...?

Have you ever reached a destination and be completely gob smacked? Wondering where in the world you have landed?

Not necessarily in a negative way, although you are dazed and captivated at the same time, if that is possible.

I have had that feeling. What I did also realize was that after a day or two, perhaps a week, I would feel quite “at home”. I am not certain if it is because I became used to travelling and moving around so often that anywhere could be my “home away from home”.

At home where I could pack my whole life in “24 hours” and be off on another flight to a new equally exciting destination. Start all over again, a new experience, a new work place, new friends, a new routine, a new language, a new social system and so on.

I have wondered and still wonder …why, why, why?

You arrive in a land where you are an alien with nothing familiar available anymore, anywhere.

Yes, it is no different however with anyone else in a similar situation. I am sure if you were to take a person from that land and settle them back in your home country, they would probably have the same experience.

I quite recently realized and perhaps am all still digesting this, that it is not that we are just different but we are different for a reason. If it were that the whole world or a large part of it was exactly the same, would it not make it a bit dull? Would travelling then be worthwhile?

Why on earth would we travel miles upon miles, across the world to have exactly the same things we have back home? I certainly would not want to experience everything I left behind, excluding the good weather conditions perhaps.

When I travel away from home, I would want to return with stories, interesting and uplifting ones – a few hick-ups always make a good laugh afterwards as well. I want to tell about who I met, where I went, what I ate…

Take for example food, in essence we all have similar cuisine, in terms of the staple crops (rice, potatoes, cassava, maize, bananas) but it is really how the preparation of such food that makes them unique and delicious.

Be it the aroma of the spices used, the charcoal stove used by the old lady, the ghee as an added ingredient…

This depends on the cooking methods used to stimulate the taste buds. Like the use of clay pots for cooking, so common in Africa, Europe, South East and East Asia.

It might not be so common these days with the introduction of steel cooking vessels but it is said that the food cooked in a clay pot is also healthier. Food cooked in such a manner loses little of its moisture because it is surrounded by steam, creating a tender, delicious dish.

We are perhaps created different so that we can tell ourselves apart. It is also fascinating to see the distinctive ways of living, how different individuals in different places lead their lives.

Though in essence we are all the same, humans – with the same limbs, yet there is a world of difference.

There is a possibility we just need to take some very deep breaths, settle in a place for a number of days, learn some basic elements of the local tongue and smile more.

Then we wonder to ourselves – was it really so different after all?

www.grassroots-traveller.com

The sizzling aspect of travelling

We all have distinctive images running in our heads when we hear the word “travel”. Some think of a relaxing holiday on a deserted island.Others dream of an adventurous mountain climbing trip, visiting friends and family. It could also be travelling to afar countries you only hear in the news to see how people live on the other side of the world. Or it could just be getting on a plane for the very first time, going on a pilgrimage…

The thoughts are almost endless though there is one aspect in common - awaiting experiences. If there were anything any traveller would tell you about is their experience, whether good or bad; experiences are inevitable.

I recall my first memory of travelling, at the age of 8, where we were going to visit my grandmother in Zanzibar. I had met her before but I was quite young only that my parents kept my memory alive by reminding me of my “bibi”.

Not so quite an adventurous trip but for an eight year old, I was constantly counting days. I could feel the excitement in my bones. My parents would tell me the same bedtime story of Unguja (main island of Zanzibar) for weeks on end - what we would be doing and who we would see. It all sounded very magical in my head, every morning I would wake up and ask how many days were left until we would see “bibi” and what would be doing there. And very patiently, my parents would help me explain the days left by stating how many times I had to sleep and wake up for us to get to Unguja.

It goes without saying that our external influences create these images in our minds that we crave to experience, to live long enough to tell the story. Travel is an act that all humans have in common, from our forefathers, explorersand alike – history tells us that through travel is how we learned that a year has 365 days.

It is what connects us as humans, we learn about others and most importantly through travelling we learn about ourselves. Some travel for leisure, business, religious purposes and other for pure curiosity.

The latter in my opinion is what creates the sizzling side of travel – when one connects with oneself and the environment. Taking it all in and learning from the people, culture, attitudes – probably one of the greatest gifts to mankind.

Landing in a “strange” country can be mind blowing or frightening, though after a few trips, you learn that even if you do not speak the same language, there’s the language of “humanity.” You will find it anywhere you go in the world.

Despite what the media tells us on the do’s and don’ts, it is ofcourse vital to take precaution, though at times one needs to learn to travel with an “open mind”.

Having no expectations of what you will experience is one of the calmest ways of travel, since you will be travelling like an open book.

Taking note of every single detail – the smells, the features, the foods, the beats, the weather conditions and so on. It is exciting, daunting, mesmerizing, shocking, pleasurable, uncomfortable…but they are all experiences that you will put together to describe your travel.

And when you return home, you realize that the sizzling side of travelling is in fact discovering that everyone is wrong about other countries. Taking for granted what travel books, websites and magazines tell us about a country is not fair, one must travel to discover about that country.

The whole idea about travelling is meeting the people and discovering the sizzling aspect of it!

www.grassroots-traveller.com