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

Live.Life.Unhurried

I read a quote today on Facebook from one of those pages that write about wisdom of life. It was quite long but what caught my attention were three words: “Live Life Unhurried”.

This sent my mind racing. Years of flashback came like lightning. I wondered what the words meant. We surf the internet, we read about and we watch so many things every second, every minute and every day, but not everything stays in our minds.

With the world at our finger tips these days, we almost feel like we posses some super  natural powers that enable us to be who we want to be and do what we feel like doing. We are so caught up in catching up with so much in one day that we tend to forget the simplest things in life, namely life itself.

Even when we decide to take time off from our hectic schedules and go on a break, we tend to focus on pre-arranging every detail and worrying about what our money can buy. Some of us go for the best of the best! And indeed we expect the best if we pay the right price, be it the best hotel, the best location, the best services. In short, the best of everything.

But come to think of it, what is the best for us? I tend to ask myself that quite often.

When we for instance get stuck in a traffic jam on a rainy day, we worry about the ensuing chaos and the loss of precious time. Sometimes we fret about the smallest things in our daily life that we forget that there is more to life that we tend to overlook.

This is what I love about travelling. It allows me to switch off my brain and to disconnect myself from the “world”. This means no phone, no internet or anything remotely similar to such monstrosities of quick communication. Just a chance to allow myself breathe and relax.

Yes, we even forget to breathe at times. How many of us snatch a few moments during a hectic day to stop and take a full deep breath? I bet not many. We seem always on the run urgently needing to do something or desperately anxious to be somewhere at any one point.

So going back to the quote I read this morning, I realized I have also fallen victim to living my life hurriedly, without appreciating “life”. The tiny raindrops that fall from the sky, the rainbow of sunrays on the window, the leaves swaying on a tree that has stood tall and strong for decades, the birds welcoming dawn with their song and much more that is beautiful and memorable that I had carelessly forgotten to heed.

As they say, the world is a circle that keeps going round and round with us caught up in its rhythm while sadly overlooking “life”. This is of course much easier said than done. At times we do have a choice, to perhaps settle for less, that is switch off our minds and focus on the little things that mean a lot or even allow our bodies to forget the stress around us.

I think it was no coincidence that I read that Facebook quote this morning. It certainly made me take a pause and view my life slightly differently from how I would otherwise view it as I woke up this morning.

And because of that, I choose today for once to live my life unhurried!

www.grassroots-traveller.com

Going that extra mile

How many of us as children dreamt about who we wanted to be when we grew up? Some of us wanted to be doctors, singers, teachers while others could never really nail it down. For some, it took many trials and errors before “the dream” job finally took shape in their minds.

Circumstances also play a role in deciding whether we at all can accomplish these dream jobs; for one thing our external environment may not always match our inner wishes.  And different individuals whatever their background and wherever they may be can experience this conflict.

Lack of financial or family support may also frustrate one’s cherished dreams. Occasionally, the sheer fear of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and leaping into the dark may be the stumbling block.

Above all, we can only try! A wise man once told me, “if you don’t try, you will never know” and I have always kept that in mind. And when you do decide to do something, you do it whole-heartedly, with no reservations. If something needs to be done, you do it either 100% or not at all otherwise it’s not going to be worth it in the end.

Now this is all easier said than done, as many would certainly agree. But that’s just the hard lesson that we all experience at some point in our lives. We end up doing jobs just to make ends meet or managing to move just one step closer to that dream job.

However, in course of our journeys in search of our daily bread or while chasing our dream job, we may learn some valuable lessons. Those for instance who work in the service sector, especially where generous clients can tip them, learn very quickly that by going that extra mile, by for instance being over courteous or jolly or particularly helpful they can earn more than what they had earlier that day.

One particular incident comes to mind. I was working at a hotel in USA, as a front office assistant. Almost towards the end of my evening shift, a lady came down from her room asking if she could have a cup of tea. The restaurant and room service had already closed for the evening, but I offered to make her the cup of tea and bring it to her room; I had gone out of my way to oblige her.

It happened I wasn’t particularly busy and was only waiting for my shift to end. Making a cup of tea wouldn’t have killed me. I set up everything nicely on a tray with an assortment of tea bags and biscuits and took it to her room. She smiled and thanked me for my service and I wished her a good evening.

Moments before my shift ended, the lady came down again to thank me; this time her hand gesture indicated she had something for me. I held my hand out, took the note she gave me and put it directly into my pocket. I thanked her while insisting I was only just doing my job.

I didn’t look at the note until I was about to leave. It turned out to be a $100 bill! I couldn’t believe my eyes! What a reward for one cup of tea, the equivalent today of approximately 160,000 Tanzanian shillings. What a glorious cup of tea!

The lady’s generosity was phenomenal! It made me realize that even if our dream jobs elude us, we need not be miserable doing our current job. We may at times need to carry on with the less satisfactory jobs in order to be pushed later towards our dreams or at least with luck succeed in winning a $100 bill for a cup of tea!

One of the ways of reaching there could perhaps be by going that extra mile!

www.grassroots-traveller.com