Nidhis.daily.blog

Category: travel

  • Travel With Care

    Itching to explore a new place? Want to escape the daily grind? Wish life was one big vacation? Indeed, the world is your oyster and travel you must, with care!

    Travelling is the new rich. Exotic destinations, luxurious properties, unique experiences, curated workshops, you name it and there is a segment available. Essentially the tourist is spoilt for choice. And travelling has been democratized by now, everyone is travelling to somewhere everytime you speak to them. This is good as more of us now move, observe, learn and get shaped by these travel choices. If there is one thing missing, it’s a uniform social etiquette for travellers.

    Travelling for life

    Eating local and seasonal is the best way to keep your digestive system in harmony. Not only do you savour a new cuisine, but also carry the sights, flavours and smells of the place long after your visit. Similarly sampling local handmade industries provide a glimpse of the cultural diversity and richness of the place. Interacting with native guides, hiring local drivers and other help staff gives an opportunity to mingle with the folks, listen to stories of the indigenous tribes and learn the ropes of the land. All this only makes your travel memories richer, humane and insightful – apart from the curated experiences and visits which are part of any standard itinerary.

    Just like responsible tourism, need of the hour is to systemize travel processes to balance demand supply sides. Uttarakhand, India is know for pilgrimage and adventure sports. Steps are being taken to implement tokenised entry exit of tourists so as to not burden the existing infrastructure and preserve overall tourist experience. Similarly a portable water crisis is emerging in tropical islands of Andaman & Nicobar, India where an overwhelming demand has started straining the natural resources. Pricing techniques could be applied here so as to extract profitable revenues from those who can afford to pay for premiumness. This way both profitability and accessibility can be matched. Similar mechanisms can be put too use in popular tourist places like Goa, Pondicherry where seasonality doesn’t play much role so travel demand can be evenly spread out by using pricing as an accessibility factor.

    So travel we must continue to do. Aiming to keep our ecological footprint smaller both as individuals as well as a society!

  • Heartache

    I long to be away, aching to break free from routine.

    Weaving dreams of the blue sky, the endless greens and the tall ridges.

    Waking to a sunrise, cooking a simple meal and mending my countable belongings.

    Or climbing to the top of the hills, soaking in the view as far as the horizon exists.

    My eyes long for those meandering paths, that take you back in time, old and new sitting along side.

    But as the dawn nears, I sink in sadness, full of longing, and swim in grief.

    I shall miss you is an under statement, I shall never leave is a mirage.

    I built it all, I tend to it, It has a piece of my soul.

    Every corner, every nook, cared for, lived in and yet still weaving memories.

    Aging with me, defining me, sometimes being an identifier for my persona.

    It’s weird to love the inanimate, but I can’t help profess my feelings.

    Made of brick and mortar, put together over the years, like the pieces of a worn out puzzle.

    Indeed, home is where the heart is.

  • Hush Travel

    Move over conventional travel, here comes slow, mindful, self-aware tourism. It’s really not the new kid on the block but rather a return to how travel used to be a few decades ago. Albeit bit more nuanced and deliberate. Coming from and as a trend that weary busy bees want to manifest for themselves as a break from dready time bound work weekdays.

    Since everyday life is laced with a million tasks and multitude of decisions, all one wants is a break from the madness. Moments of silence, tranquility and peace is what is desirable. One wants to wander but with intent and mindfulness. One wants to explore but with purpose. One wants to relax but listen to untold stories, walk the unknown paths and relish hyper-local delicacies in the company of local dwellers.

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    So it increasingly becoming common to choose sky watch over night life, idling over actively alert and alleys and bylanes over algorithmic itineraries. Monuments like monastries which allow to immerse and not just passively see are preferred. Apart from popular cultural tags like dance and music, one wants to pick the local language. Picking up cherishables that are hand crafted and produced in small batches are desired over mass printed t-shirts in all sizes for the entire clan. Smaller towns have such and many more local legacy to explore so what go down the crowded path.

    Slowly but steadily experiences that are personal would be chosen by those that are performative. Once, again and always.

  • Breaking free

    A child learns majorly at home. A young adult is influenced by the university attended. & an early career working adult gets shaped by the organization’s work ethos. While formal learning ends, informal nurturing is a life long process. Place of residence, religious cult, immediate community of identity add to the myriad colours of one’s personalities.

    An individual mustn’t be bound by what comes to him. He should rather seek. Seek without holding back. Seek new experiences, a diverse set of people, adventurous food choices and sometimes even an unlikely choice of clothing. It brings eye opening lessons, intellectual stimuation and a variety to mundane routine life. Be a sponge and soak it up, better late than never!

  • Doom Tourism

    Imagine you reach your childhood dream destination only to find out its a 360 degree change from what you read about it in school books! And mankind continues to expand carbon footprint, this gap would only shorten from a few decades to maybe within a decade.

    Not recent news but the illustrations of this hypothetical situation are plenty irl. Take the amazing coral cluster ‘Great Barrier Reef’ at Australia or the Amazonian forests or the melting polar capsicum. Even the wildlife in the African grasslands is growing scantier ever turn of the decade.

    So do we all turn Greta Thunberg in our own rights? Yes. Do we save our dream destinations and bucket list landscapes for future? No. Travel light, travel responsibly and travel now!

  • Glocals

    A spin on the globally-aware locally-blissful gen alpha of the growing virtual world. With shrinking boundaries and democracy of information this could well be someone from a small town or village and not necessarily a city person.

    So the boomer’s cosmopolitan is now gen alpha’s Glocal – global yet local citizen of the earth. These Glocals blend in everywhere, they feel at home anywhere. They have a universal view but regional appeal both at the same time.

    But does one really unlearn to develop new tastes (quite literally). Or does he stay true to his roots yet embrace the socio-cultural learnings. It’s like choosing to trade the past for the future – what do you choose?

  • Intentional travelling

    Travel to see the world. Travel to explore the earth. Travel to experience the globe. Travel not to tick off a checklist but to engage with the world in a meaningful way. So travel intentionally my friend. Purpose driven is one thing, but being mindful of your surroundings and ‘doing as Romans do’ is what intentional travel entails.

    As a traveller, it’s your duty to respect local communities, be aware of their customs and dressing appropriately. It pays to be aware of their cultural courtesy and be responsible in minimising the waste you create. After all sustainability goes a long way to promote mindful travel.

    Show some love and support to the economy of the land – shop from the arts & craft, savour the hyperlocal cuisine and indulge in experiences of your travel plans permit.

    Don’t forget to be the ambassador of your own country. Kindness, respect and positive actions are a universal language. Carry your patriotism with pride and accuracy, be responsible to put your countrymen in good light.

    Lastly, plan, iterate, journal but sail through the setbacks with a smile. As they too contribute to your memories. So make sure to plan with intention but leave room for leisure and embrace spontaneity!

    This way you can curate your own unique experience and savour those moments that matter to you the most. ❤️