You might not get tomorrow...

Recently a family friend had posted a picture on Facebook, the picture was of an old man walking on the beach somewhere on the coastal line of Australia with the caption “Travel before you’re 30, Travel at any cost, It’ll change your life”

I can’t help but think about the picture and what it portrays, as it is something I have always resonated with strongly. Coming from a modest background, it was a no brainer for me that travelling abroad required a lot of  ‘extra’ money, which was a leisure I personally couldn’t afford. That left two options for me; either borrow money and make your dream come true or make ‘economical’ trips, roam around India and at the same time save money slowly but steadily for ‘the trip’. The realization dawned on me immediately after I passed out of school and two of my friends enrolled in a university abroad and wrote to me about how they were travelling to other countries and how there were so many opportunities abroad to discover new things.

My parents have always taught me to be responsible, financially independent, save more money and never take loans unless it is absolutely necessary. 

I satiated my travel cravings by going places within the country whether it was having a beer at Curlie’s in Goa or saluting the soldiers at Wagah or having a coffee in Coorg, There is so much to see within India but the rose tinted irrational fascination with “abroad” clouds our ability to see that. My lack of funds came as a blessing in disguise as I went on a limited budget travel spree and ended up with unbelievable experiences I cherish to date.

This is pretty much the story of 75% of the Indian youth, either the money or parents or some factor (read excuse) is responsible for resistance towards travelling, every time I speak to my friends/cousins/colleagues about the importance of travelling they keep whining about three things

• What about the debts?
• What about my work/studies?
• What about my girl friend/boy friend/Dog etc.?

Well for starters, try not to make money as the only deciding factor in your travel plans. Travel light and travel smart, this should help you save upto 50% of your travel costs. If money is a constraint, travel during the off-season that will cut the costs of hotels plus travelling within the city. For instance, we got the Hotel in Ibiza, Spain for 25 Euros a day as against 100 Euros a day during the season. On season is again just a herd mentality and more hyped than it deserves. A place can be discovered and enjoyed equally if not more in off-season time, especially the heavily commercialized places where crowds is all you can “enjoy” during season.

There are cheaper options to travel abroad, Fare Compare suggests that Wednesdays are the best days to book your air travel and Tuesdays are the best days to travel if within the week is an option. Airlines like Ryan Air and Air Asia give you dirt cheap rates. Overnight and special discount trains are options almost everywhere and student and corporate discounts can be enjoyed. Renting a car or simply a seat on a car are other cheap options available.

Don’t take huge loans to travel; In case of travelling abroad the cost of your planned travel should not exceed more than 6 times your monthly savings unless you have been saving for months for that trip.

In case you can’t save much, look for places nearby, India is full of possibilities even smallest of trips like Bangalore-Coorg or Mumbai-Lonavala with your friends will give you new perspective about them, life and other people around you.

Don’t worry; missing your work/studies for 3-4 days in 3 months is not an irrecoverable loss and completely worth it and you can always catch up. In fact, nowadays organizations encourage innovation by making their employees travel more as it gives them a different perspective about things in their industry.

If your companion has an issue, there are two scenarios. If he/she is the one, they’ll understand. If not, it shouldn’t matter that they don’t.

Travelling doesn’t depend on money, if you are willing to travel, you will always find out a way to do it. It’s important to do it when you are young, later in life the possibility reduces considerably as you tend to entrench yourselves in responsibilities like Wife/Husband, Kids, EMIs and so on..

If ever there be a time to do it, it is now, no matter who or where you are. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations, get down and dirty, get out of your cocoon and discover other cultures and people. There’s so much more to life that you’ll never discover if you run after stability. Get adventurous and take in all the experiences life has to offer, stability will catch up sooner or later.

So my friend, travel while you can, fly to new heights, meet new people, explore new cities, eat new food, try new drinks, get fresh perspective about life because for all we know, we might not get tomorrow..