Travel Gene

There is an easy way to find out whether travel is an obsession and a passion for you. If you look at your bank statements and think mutual funds and home loans, you have just fallen off the map. On the other hand, if you see the numbers (most of them in red) and still have the urge to plot a longitude and latitude, you were born to travel. The rest is incidental.

I knew I carried a mutant travel gene, long before I could read a map, but shortly after I could read. I didn’t know what it meant, or where it would lead, but the signs were ominous. I was doomed to a life where a suitcase gave me comfort, not stress. My roots were people, not places. My soul derived its anchor in changing skylines. Not an admirable attribute, I am often told, but luckily for me, it was not something that society could commit me to an institution for.

Most of us venture into the unknown alone, with a fairly light wallet and a vague agenda. Expecting to find like-minded souls (with hardened soles). In all these years, that expectation has never met with disappointment. There are always such people waiting to meet you, in the most unlikely places. They find you when their radar picks up signals from your mutant gene. Then, the true discovery begins.

Fellow travellers and local people are the best guides— not just to a specific place or destination – but to feeding a hunger that is indescribable. While you would possibly have nothing in common, other than being part of the same species, there is one thing that would enable you to speak the same language—an open heart. That is all is takes. Leave your mind to handle the maps and bills.

In this day and age, there are many other channels to find such a connect. One significant one is the Bootsnall network. In one click, you enter a whole new world. Information, resources, fellow mutants and a labyrinth of experiences compiled just for you. Because we place such importance on word of mouth references, a logical next step is to venture onwards to Trip Advisor. Thousands of people who dedicate their time and effort, to help us understand a place better. It isn’t a Lonely Planet at all :)