Travelling at 40
So as my trip slowly dwindles into a lovely haze of distant comforting memory wanted to jot down a few more things before general senility took over...
It's funny how the trip evolved actually. I got on the flight from here to Dubai and onward to Copenhagen fairly uneventfully (thank God!)...I ended up sitting next to the only other Indian who was flying to Copenhagen! A young thirty something chap from Gurgaon on his way to a training month in Copenhagen courtesy his company. Never flown before, never left India before and straight to Copenhagen in Oct armed with nothing more than the most redoubtable of armour...lots of ready-to-eat Haldiram's meals...As he earnestly explained to me, "wahan khane ko kya milega pata nahin" so he was prepared to beat out the 7-year famine if need be.
A very helpful chap and sort of clinging on to the last vestige of home and a familiar face, we shared a cab and he dropped me off at my hotel and went off to his own grand adventure in a shared flat. Unfortunately he was alone in a strange land, missing his wife and new baby and wanted company. I on the other hand definitely did not want to dine with a young lost puppy on the first leg of my grand adventure however scared I was to be facing my own loose end...
And that was when I realised what it was...I was just too old to pretend interest in people's company if I didn't feel it...Now those who know me know I have an unfortunate habit of saying okay when I don't mean it or end up in situations because I can't say no...but I think I finally have found my spine...better late than never...I really did not want to spend the first days of my trip saddled with random strangers' company that I did not find interesting...and that was it...I needed interesting otherwise I was fine with myself...and that was the beginning of realizing that I was okay with doing this...being by myself going where I could and where I would...
In the days since I came back people's first questions have always been "how was your trip?" followed closely by "how was it to travel alone?" And I think in retrospect it was (to use a well worn cliche) empowering...for a woman like me who feels emancipated for the most part but has never really done much that is either pathbreaking/shocking/particularly dramatic, it has offered me a way to be at peace with myself for a little while at least...a sort of pat in the back for having come far enough to enjoy my own company and yet revel in being part of a bigger whole... a small thread in a larger tapestry of life if one were prone to flowery prose... It's made me appreciate what I have gained along the way, appreciate silence and peace but also crave and miss the company of friends...for those moments when solitude is a blessing and allow the regret of missing having a friend (esp for the more voyeuristic past-times that Amsterdam had to offer)...
It's also funny how we cling to routines and safety and resist the lure of the unknown..the first few days despite my best intentions I fell into a comfortable oft-worn pattern...get up, plan the day, cover the sights, eat your lunch, take a break, plan some more, plan your dinner, eat said dinner, tick off accomplishments for the day, come back to room, refresh yourself, plan for the next day and get to bed...It's pretty good value for money and time this way, terribly efficient and awesome when travelling with family or with a tight budget or on a history/wildlife trip...
luckily before I wasted my whole trip doing this, I stopped and reset myself...resisted the lure of the tourist booth at airports and walked till my legs fell off...I had a blast from then on...unfortunately I had wasted a few precious days but better late is what they say...
Travelling at 40 is:
Emancipating
Exhilarating
Scary
Relaxing
freeing
retrospective
introspective
sit-down-and-drink or stay home and sleep kind of amazing
meet-strangers or sit in a corner kind of allowing
rediscover friends and make new ones kind of interesting
in general a supercaliflagilisticexpialidocious-knock up your feet and do-a-happy-jig once-in a lifetime-experience...
Whatever I do next wherever I go again, this was my first...the once feeling of romance and fear and excitement and the I'm-on-the-brink-of-something-loveliness that can never be captured again...but then I had this once...
I've also been going through my pictures from the trip and some things have re-struck a chord...so am going to do a sort of photo blog and wrap up my trip before it really fades away too much!!! Post 1 coming up next...
So as my trip slowly dwindles into a lovely haze of distant comforting memory wanted to jot down a few more things before general senility took over...
It's funny how the trip evolved actually. I got on the flight from here to Dubai and onward to Copenhagen fairly uneventfully (thank God!)...I ended up sitting next to the only other Indian who was flying to Copenhagen! A young thirty something chap from Gurgaon on his way to a training month in Copenhagen courtesy his company. Never flown before, never left India before and straight to Copenhagen in Oct armed with nothing more than the most redoubtable of armour...lots of ready-to-eat Haldiram's meals...As he earnestly explained to me, "wahan khane ko kya milega pata nahin" so he was prepared to beat out the 7-year famine if need be.
A very helpful chap and sort of clinging on to the last vestige of home and a familiar face, we shared a cab and he dropped me off at my hotel and went off to his own grand adventure in a shared flat. Unfortunately he was alone in a strange land, missing his wife and new baby and wanted company. I on the other hand definitely did not want to dine with a young lost puppy on the first leg of my grand adventure however scared I was to be facing my own loose end...
And that was when I realised what it was...I was just too old to pretend interest in people's company if I didn't feel it...Now those who know me know I have an unfortunate habit of saying okay when I don't mean it or end up in situations because I can't say no...but I think I finally have found my spine...better late than never...I really did not want to spend the first days of my trip saddled with random strangers' company that I did not find interesting...and that was it...I needed interesting otherwise I was fine with myself...and that was the beginning of realizing that I was okay with doing this...being by myself going where I could and where I would...
In the days since I came back people's first questions have always been "how was your trip?" followed closely by "how was it to travel alone?" And I think in retrospect it was (to use a well worn cliche) empowering...for a woman like me who feels emancipated for the most part but has never really done much that is either pathbreaking/shocking/particularly dramatic, it has offered me a way to be at peace with myself for a little while at least...a sort of pat in the back for having come far enough to enjoy my own company and yet revel in being part of a bigger whole... a small thread in a larger tapestry of life if one were prone to flowery prose... It's made me appreciate what I have gained along the way, appreciate silence and peace but also crave and miss the company of friends...for those moments when solitude is a blessing and allow the regret of missing having a friend (esp for the more voyeuristic past-times that Amsterdam had to offer)...
It's also funny how we cling to routines and safety and resist the lure of the unknown..the first few days despite my best intentions I fell into a comfortable oft-worn pattern...get up, plan the day, cover the sights, eat your lunch, take a break, plan some more, plan your dinner, eat said dinner, tick off accomplishments for the day, come back to room, refresh yourself, plan for the next day and get to bed...It's pretty good value for money and time this way, terribly efficient and awesome when travelling with family or with a tight budget or on a history/wildlife trip...
luckily before I wasted my whole trip doing this, I stopped and reset myself...resisted the lure of the tourist booth at airports and walked till my legs fell off...I had a blast from then on...unfortunately I had wasted a few precious days but better late is what they say...
Travelling at 40 is:Emancipating
Exhilarating
Scary
Relaxing
freeing
retrospective
introspective
sit-down-and-drink or stay home and sleep kind of amazing
meet-strangers or sit in a corner kind of allowing
rediscover friends and make new ones kind of interesting
in general a supercaliflagilisticexpialidocious-knock up your feet and do-a-happy-jig once-in a lifetime-experience...
Whatever I do next wherever I go again, this was my first...the once feeling of romance and fear and excitement and the I'm-on-the-brink-of-something-loveliness that can never be captured again...but then I had this once...
I've also been going through my pictures from the trip and some things have re-struck a chord...so am going to do a sort of photo blog and wrap up my trip before it really fades away too much!!! Post 1 coming up next...
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