“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other
side of the world.”
-
Mary Anne Radmacher
I was always the person who diligently scoured travel
magazines and newspapers, stared at the fancy and the intriguing pictures nestled
into their pages from all corners of the world, cut them out, made dozens of
scrapbooks out of them and dreamed. Dreamed of being in those pictures,
someday. Back then, as a child, I did not know that the fall of 2017 would
herald a spring for me, in which my dream would bloom and come to life!
I got incredibly lucky to receive an all expense paid
scholarship to Munich, Germany for 10 weeks starting August 13, 2017. Of
course, my rusty, out of practice German had a lot to do with it, but so did my
sheer good fortune and I am forever grateful for being in the right place at
the right time. Because between 2017 and 2018, I’ve changed. And how!
1.
To #LoveTheWorld
Different people love the world for different reasons.
Take a look at Lufthansa’s #SayYesToTheWorld Campaign : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNeGyEayWUs
Travelling made me love the world, too.
‘There are
cities I haven’t been to yet, strangers I haven’t met.
There are
rivers I haven’t cruised yet, suitcases I haven’t packed.
And flights
I yearn to board, and lakes to dip my feet in,
Because the
world’s arms are wide open, and I know there’s space enough for me to fit.’
Today, I know that I was not born for just one corner
of the world, that I am not small enough to be contained in there. I’ve been to
7 countries, probably scores of cities and towns, but the more I discover, the
more there is still to discover. There are still oceans to sail, and beaches to
sleep on, cities to trace the pulse of, and people out there who know me better
than I know myself and who I am yet to fall in love with. The world’s a candy
store, and I’m an unsupervised kid with a full wallet- I’d like to have it all.
2.
Being braver, stronger, fiercer
I’ve walked the avenues of Paris alone. I’ve dipped my
toes into the calm Seine alone. I’ve watched alone, couples strolling hand in
hand, feeding each other Nutella crepes, friends meeting up for morning coffee
and croissant in quaint little cafes. I’ve visited the Louvre alone, had Mona
Lisa smile at me alone. I’ve wept in the Notre Dame alone. I’ve toured the City
of Love alone! And a year ago, I’d have been devastated about it. But today,
I’m just overwhelmed, super proud and deliriously happy when I recall how I did
all of this, by spending time with the most important person in my life- me and
not letting self pity get in the way. It would have been nice to have somebody
to kiss atop the Eifel Tower, but the view of Paris up those 300 metres was, I
assure you, way nicer!
3.
Cherishing
people we love
Travel gave me an opportunity to escape my daily life,
my daily interactions with people who were a part of my day, every day. It is
true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. While you may find the 24x7
presence of your loved ones around annoying sometimes, believe me, travel
changes all of that. Having to depend on shoddy internet connections while in
long distance buses and high speed TGVs to get a text delivered to them, trying
to beat time zones and not wake them up while you want to speak to them like
your life depended on it, battling grainy pictures on video calls and broken
staccato on voice calls…it makes you wonder why you ever craved ‘personal
space’ so bad when they were right there, next to you. To touch and kiss and
hug! Travel made me appreciate their love for me and mine for them, and for
this, I’m immensely thankful.
4.
Distinguishing between the essential and the superficial
To be
#worldtraveller, a globetrotter, a nomad, a gypsy is not all fun and
games. It is hard work. It is sometimes coming home from work, almost dead, yet
having to fulfill chores before you depart for your next adventure early next
morning. It is reserving flights and bus coaches and making sure you got window
seats, and all of it within budget. It is figuring how much luggage to carry,
and how much of it to leave behind. It is leaving bulky jackets at airport
departures for others to find and keep, because why would you pay 100 Euros for
excess baggage when you could buy a new jacket for 10? It is careful planning
and decision- making. And if you’re accompanied by a travel buddy, it is making
sure they’ve slept off their hangover from partying all night before and that
they approve of the choice of accommodation in the foreign, foreign land you
will call home for the next couple of days! If that is not opening yourself up
to responsibility, I don’t know what is.
5.
My heart
has expanded, along with my skill set
I’ve made friends with people way older and way
younger than me. I’ve befriended department heads and street artists, the
Germans and the Italians, doctors and students. My heart has expanded to make
room for all these people whom I can never forget. They’re pieces of my heart
now, scattered across the globe. And strangely enough, that only makes me
stronger.
6.
More
moments, less pictures
Remember that dream about being part of those fancy
pictures of me in world famous destinations? Well, it came true! But it coming
true made me realise that there are so many experiences, so many conversations,
so many memories I will never have photos of, because photos would never do
them justice! It was good that I realised this in time. I stayed in the moment,
feeling ferocious winds blow through my hair in Paris; chatting with an Irish
banker on the banks of Seine, while he prepared his fishing rod and waited for
fish to take the bait; biting into juicy, sumptuous falafel at obscure train
stations in Prague; listen to a revolutionary telling the truth about Zurich’s
glitter and glamour, on a bridge over the Limmat river; getting pelted by
hailstones on a cruise in the middle of Zurich Lake; almost missing our
connection back home from the Rhine Falls; exploring Berlin on foot, soaked
from the rain. Life really passes us by in moments when we are paying attention
to something else, trying to capture it in narrow frames. Travel taught me to
live more, click less.
7.
The
necessity but ephemerality of goodbyes
I was a sucker for happy endings. Always. But now I
recognise, that life is more grey than pink. More real than ideal. And that
goodbyes are necessary. I wept like a baby when I had to leave my colleagues,
my classmates, and the people who had come to be a family to me, behind. But
they hugged me tight and I realised it was all going to be okay. Because this
was not the end. The best thing was, they made me smile even through the tears.
My supervisor at my workplace said I ould go on crying and use up their
tissues…for they had quite a huge stock of tissues at their disposal. And. I am
still in touch with my favourite people halfway across the world, so goodbyes
need not be permanent, even though they are at times, necessary.
I like to believe I’ve become more open minded. I like to
believe I am more expressive of my affection, my love, ever since I fell in
love with the world. I like to believe I’ve changed. For the better. Would you
want to, too? Would you SAY YES TO THE WORLD, today?
