Making travelling part of your life

Many of you are probably asking yourselves how this can be possible? The answer is simple; anything is possible if you make it possible, isn’t it?

In my opinion, traveling should be an imperative. This is perhaps easier said than done but there are ways of making it happen. Just as we decide to incorporate certain things and make them an essential part of our lives, we can also incorporate travelling into our lifestyle. Our personal circumstances might not always make this possible. The exigencies of work, our financial and family commitments etc. all these may stand in the way. But I would still insist that travelling is nonetheless possible.

I am sure most of us can’t do without certain things in our lives, a TV perhaps a mobile phone, let alone the Internet that opens the door for us to the whole world. Now, all these ofcourse cost us money. We have prioritized them and made them indispensable. We have reached a point where it would almost be a crime if we didn’t stayed connected, in some shape or form be it through updating our Facebook at least once a week, scrolling through to check what is happening with friends or even tweet about the latest news or gossip somewhere.

We’re, in a sense, being victims of technological advancement.

Why can’t we give up some of these and go in for some form of travelling instead? I ask myself that question?

If you’re like many out there, you probably find yourself imagining what it would be like to travel, just for fun. However, if you’re like some, you find grappling with the daily responsibilities, the demands of one’s job, children, a partner etc., all these get in the way.

It is however important to understand that travelling is trully a gift to mankind. It is vital. You can grow richer by travelling more and more. Most importantly, travelling keeps you young by simply putting you in situations where you become a child again. You learn to discover new things, new people and even a new world - things that you didn’t know existed.

Now, going back to our question, how does one incorporate travelling into their life? Here are some of my best-kept secrets and ways I have lived by over the years, ensuring that travelling becomes possible even if I earned as little a day as one could possibly imagine.

1.   Make travelling a “MUST” – a priority in your life just like eating and sleeping.
2. Make an effort to have a travel savings account or a piggy bank for your travels
3. Cut down on some of your ingrained habits – e.g. shopping spree, eating out etc.
4. If travelling long-haul is beyond you then plump for the short-haul travelling, cutting your coat according to your cloth. Move around in however restricted a fashion. The bottom line is to get moving.
5. Understand travelling as a need not a want – it doesn’t have to be “a luxury holiday” even visiting friends or family in a nearby town or country serves the purpose
6. Plan your travels in advance especially if you have a family – even a year or two ahead
7. Most importantly, believe that it is possible and focus on that!

A positive commitment to travelling is a fundamental key to making it possible. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to travel and explore this profound gift given to mankind.

With the New Year just started, I’m sure some of you out there have your New Year resolution that involves travelling. So, if you are looking to expand your horizons or wanting to know more about how you can take that next step into planning your travels, look no further than www.grassroots-traveller.com, as I would be happy to assist.

hafsa@grassroots-traveller.com

Find the good around you

It’s almost impossible to wake up nowadays without hearing something “negative” or horrible somewhere in the world trumpeted in the media, whether a natural or man-made disaster. There is sadly always “something” scary going on in some corner of the globe.

Sometimes I wonder if these catastrophes deliberately attract headlines or it just so happens that disasters naturally focus human attention. This really awes me. At times it makes me wonder if there is any “good” left out there?

It seems that whenever you pick up a newspaper, switch on any news channel or even surf online for news – there is something shocking, scandalous or nerve racking waiting for you.

One might wonder if there is any good happening in this world that we ought to know about? Perhaps, positive events that ought to capture headlines or front pages of the newspapers? It is really difficult to imagine that we live in a horribly negative world.

How does it affect us as human beings, one might be curious to know? Or how do we avoid the constant bombardment of negativity? Can we control our diet of media news?

I somehow draw a parallel with how we plan our holidays or breaks. We choose where we want to go, what we want to see or experience and dismiss that we do not find appealing.

Perhaps we can do the same with the events taking place in our daily lives. We could choose what we want to read in the newspaper or watch on television and not necessarily get carried away with all the negativity.

I recently read an interesting article entitled: "Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you’ll start believing in it."

This made me believe that it sometimes is a matter of a choice. Just as we choose to or not to do certain things, we can similarly choose to look for the positive of this world.

For instance, I happen to be one of those rare creatures who do not own a television by choice, I have not had one in over seven years. I have never bought nor do I intend to in the near future. This over the years has shocked many of my friends, as a television has become an indispensable fixture of a modern comfortable home. I never bought one because I knew that I could easily spend half the day glued to that box to the exclusion of more productive occupations.  The TV is to me largely a time wasting distraction with few “benefits” and countless disadvantages.

Similarly, I have opted not to read everything in newspapers, as I do not find everything rewarding or uplifting. The only time I might actually read the news is when I cast a quick glance at the headlines or surf online for those one-minute news updates.

I’ve come to realize over the last few years that in this way, I’ve managed to strike a balance between the negative and the positive in my daily life. Perhaps even found the good and actually started believing in it. So much good takes place under our very noses but to which we have become oblivious in our preoccupation with the negative.

One cannot possibly ignore the “world news”, though we could concentrate more on the good side, and showcase it to others. One might never know, it could have a trickle effect with one after another starting to believe in it and thus in the fullness of time succeed in creating some good around us which we desperately need in order to create a healthy balance in our daily lives.

www.grassroots-traveller.com