Journey and the Destination

What does it really mean when somebody says that 'I like visiting new places (destination)!!!'? Visiting new places is not an isolated event. It is more than anything else the end of a much longer process which typically starts pretty early in time. So will it not be bizarre when that same person emphatically adds, 'but I just hate travelling (journey)!!!' Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Wouldn't you agree?

The adage 'Its not the destination but the journey that matters' doesn't really hold true for a typical tourist. The journey for him is just a necessary evil. The tourist breaks his head to achieve that fine balance between the travel cost and the travel time so that he gets to his destination cheaper and faster. The journey for him doesn't begin from the moment he steps out of his house with his travel bag but only after he checks in his hotel room in the city which he is visiting.

Each time I board a bus or an airplane to get to a new city I see people already getting cozy and ready to catch up on sleep. They are all trying to save up on time which they will be spending with glee at the destination. There are hardly any who really are interested to peek outside the window and experience the journey. It is as if the 'tourists' are like cattle in a pen being herded to an open field only to be let loose once they reach that field.

Even I am one of the typical 'tourist', but off late I have been making a conscious effort to enjoy the journey as well. I have decided, not to cram too many things both in my travelling bag and in my 'to see' list. I have decided to give me enough time to make that 'connection' so that I can walk a bit slow between terminals and not worry about missing my flights. I have decided to spend that much more time in downtown just gazing around buildings and shops which are not really on any tourist map but are very much there to be seen. The most important of it all, I have decided make that unscheduled stop in the city, totally unrelated and sit down many on the side walk or a park bench and just feel the wind in my face. Of course none of this will be seen on FB but then this is something just for me anyways!!!

All this because when I get back home from my travels I do not want to feel tired but refreshed and ready to take on the world in my office-space!!! J All this because at the end of it all I want to feel 'journeyed'!!!