By no means involving scratching of any sort, i am referring to the hypothetical condition that both affects and fuels a wanderer's soul. The traveller's itch (or as i like to call it, the Cant-Sit-Still Syndrome is an actual condition and can be incredibly devastating. And by that, i mean BOTH incredible AND devastating. Incredible memories and Devastating financial repurcussions. It has affected millions of people before and after me and as a classic example of " been there, suffered that " by your's truly, i guess the only probable cure, is to succumb to it and indulge in travel's of varying magnitude and duration. Infact it's the lifestyle of my Dreams.
Scratch it and it will scratch you right back
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| Places i want to go, apart from Vatican City , Istanbul and Antartica Tokyo- CHECK! |
My once-every-2-month traveller's itch struck again two days back. Of course, as expected, coming back from Hampi and Coimbatore had left me with a sense of restlessness. It's hard to go from everyday being an absolute adventure, full of new words and people, to something a little bit more routine. But it's all about perspective. Because a few weeks ago I found myself lost in my hometown, Kolkata and I could have very well been in a foreign city, I was so lost. This one particular street with tree's forming a canopy that i came across was so effin beautiful that I stopped and took a picture. Amazing ! Because this was the Kolkata I grew up in yet there's so much of it I have yet to see. My whole life, and yet, this little street I'd never registered in my memory. Or maybe, living away for the greater part of 4 years is what it took for me to notice these things. It's as if you have to leave in order to come home and see what's really there.
Over the last few year's, I'v wandered through culturally intense and rich places like Amritsar, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Benaras, greater parts of Japan and lately, Hampi. But the Insane desire to keep exploring never goes. Infact i vow to live by the ocean someday.It's so easy to picture myself running on the beach with my cute dog and getting home just in time for breakfast after an early morning surf session.Yep, that sounds ideal!
One of my very favorite songs -- Anchor by Mindy Gledhill -- has a line that says "I am nearly world renowned / As a restless soul who always skips town" and the first time I heard that line it struck a chord deep within my heart. It definitely spoke to me. As cheesy, and pun-ny as it sounds. I am a restless soul. That's the truth.
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| Discover yourself as you discover the world :) |
However, this time around the itch resurfaced in the single most inconvenient time, where it became the background ( in cant-miss-it-RED-hues) of my current end semester examinations (drat!). I am NOT good at holding back hence, I find myself talking to my conscience every now and then, explaining why i cant take off right now. Why i cant just stand someplace wildly beautiful or charmingly desolate in awe, in wonder as i wander.
I throw questions at myself and answer them right back, until i go tired and postpone the idea of just packing up and leaving. After all, I approach the end of my postgraduation and for all i know, academic life. I am (Read: Supposedly) in a season of transition, a time of learning, growing and preparation. I'm not sure what for exactly (23 and clueless, yep that's me :D), but I just know that this is a vital phase that would decide my future.
With such idealist line of thought on loop, I once again placate my heart to hold on and stay put..Stay put for a few more days before i can get back to photography, tasting varied cuisines, trekking, laying on beaches, eating chocolate and drinking copious amounts of red wine *sigh*.
Till then, in-between, this is what keeps me going on
Google : For places i can fuck off to next
Coffee : While i Google and ogle.
Books. All kinds. All topics. All the books.
Family guy: happen's to be my TV fix as of late. On repeat. Every night as you fall asleep.
Gratitude: And expressing it.
Writing letters: The good, old-fashioned, stick a stamp on it, push it through the mail slot kind.
Music. As often as you can. As loud as plausible. Singing along. Old school ,Old Classics (Spare me the new crap that is being dished out lately.
Though the temporary distraction does the trick at times, i do know that the itch is here to stay. And honestly, I am quite thankful for it
#continuousloop-ItchandScratch
