Why I Love Travel.

Let’s talk about travel today.

Lately,I’ve been getting horribly jittery because I’m in dire need of a vacation,of going to a new place and exploring it.It’s quite impossible to take a holiday these days for me due to my extremely busy schedule so I decided to take all my pent-up travel frustration and make a post about travel and just think and talk about why I love travelling so much.

Buddhist flags at Sikkim,India.The picture was taken by me.

If you’ve been following my blog a little while,you might have seen me do quite a few travel posts.I enjoy doing those, as it helps me in  reminiscing about my holidays and preserving the memories forever,or however long the internet exists.Simply put,I love travelling.I am quite an impatient and adventurous person and someone who really enjoys adrenaline rushes,(My first post was actually about this, click here to read that) so for me travelling is one of the best activities there is.It makes me happy to meet new people ,see new places,learn new languages.As John Green has aptly said, seemingly about me,”I am in love with places I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.”

Chang La Pass,Ladakh,India.The picture was taken by me.

Travelling makes me a different kind of happy,that nothing else can ever do.All parts of  it; the getting to the place,the walking around,the newness,the beautifully unique things that make that place what it is, are things I absolutely adore.For me,travelling gives me a high that lasts for quite a while,leaving me cheerier,happier,fresher and just all round more positive with a new perspective on life and making me a person  quite different from the one I was.

Sikkim,India.Taken by me too.

I love the new flora and fauna,the new food,the new faces and the new atmosphere.I yearn to see so much of the world,to learn so many languages,to learn about so many cultures and just explore the world,for it is quite a beautiful place and there’s so much of it to see.I have just started on really seeing the world,I’m young and the world is a huge huge place and I want to continue it all my life.I really truly and deeply hope to be able to do that in life,I consider it one of my dreams and goals for when I have grown up to see the world ,to travel,to explore and to really just live life to the fullest.

At Darjeeling,West Bengal,India. Taken by me.

When I go on a vacation,my biggest lookout is for some experience that belongs just to that place,something that cannot possibly belong to some other place,the thing that only that place has to offer because that is what makes travel so amazing for all the travel lovers.These little moments that make you realise your worthlessness,or worthfulness,whichever way you look at it, and just how much of a miracle it is that you,in all your behaviours,features, with all your experiences and quirks have come to exist. It is a beautiful realisation and a lesson in humility that though needed, doesn’t hit you quite often,so if looking at a mesmerizing sunrise(My post about it is here) or parasailing (My post about that is here.)above the world can make you realise that then really, my inner voice asks me ,why not? Why not see this gorgeous world we came to exist in through that special crossing of stars? Why not love the thrill,the action that travel brings? Why not travel?

Early morning in Sikkim,India.Taken by me.

THIS POST’S QUESTION: Do you like to travel?If so,why? Comment below with what you think about it,Id love to hear from you!

The Best First Time Parasailing!

Let’s talk about the first time I went parasailing.

I think everyone has dreamt of flying ; floating high up in the skies with the birds and up above the clouds.(Except maybe if you have a fear of heights) And we, human beings, happen to be such gifted and delightful creatures that we made aeroplanes and helicopters to achieve the same. We refuse to be satisfied by just sitting inside a machine and experiencing it, we keep trying to make it better and more real and thus we developed adventure sports like parasailing and paragliding. This is the one admirable quality about us, we want to make everything possible, the indomitable human spirit, just refuses to believe that impossible is a word.

We recently went to a quaint little coastal village in Maharashtra,India by the name of Shrivardhan .It was a beautiful,peaceful place right out of your imagination.The beaches there were so picturesque,so clean,so empty, so delightfully perfect the thalassophile in me was on cloud 9. Here, I had the wonderful opportunity to experience parasailing at the beach for the first time in my life.This was putting everything I love together; the beach,the ocean,the skies and the adventure, making it quite memorable.

It was an out of the world experience, so blissfully exhilarating! I could see the ocean extending indefinitely and kissing the skies at the horizon on one end and the coconut tree forest and the little village amidst the hills on one.I felt on top of the world(Literally!) and was humbled by the power and beauty of Mother nature,yet again.I’ve said this before about a sunrise I saw but this sentence of mine is the only way to express what I felt,yet again.”It made me feel so meaningless,so small,so powerless,I’d say it left a humbler person in its wake.”I felt that little mixture of emotions yet again,the one I’d felt at that point as I floated higher and higher, a mute observer to the glory of nature.

All pictures are clicked by me , are unedited and are of different beaches around the village.

Flying. As close as it gets.

Almost invisible in the vastness of the sky.

We saw this beautiful scenic view of the Arabian Sea while traveling.

Roads with hills on one side and the sea on another,so heavenly.

I was trying to capture this little flock of birds that flew past the sun but couldn’t. They’re to the left of the sun if you look carefully.

“The clouds lit up to bid farewell to the passing sun. For at that instant, they, the scattered ones, were one.”

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Sunrise.

Let’s talk about the best sunrise I’ve ever seen today.

I believe that almost everyone talks about sunsets. Everyone has seen loads of really beautiful sunsets in their lives. I have, too. But sunrises, at least for me, are special. They require actual effort and dedication. Getting up in the early morning and prepping just to see the rising sun peek above the horizon signalling the start of the day, making creatures all big and small begin their day, witnessing something that powerful makes me feel honoured.

In my 16 years of existence, I’ve seen 7 sunrises total.4 because I woke up too early at home,1 in a early morning flight, one in a desert as a child and one in the Himalayas. Of these, one is my absolute favourite and that’s the one I’m gonna talk about today.

The sunrise I saw in Tiger hill in Darjeeling, India, nestled in the lap of the Himalayas, in front of the third highest peak in the world, the Kanchenjunga was quite possibly the best sunrise I’ll ever see. I went to Darjeeling with my family and we woke at 4 to witness nature’s glory.

All pictures are unedited and clicked by me. Even though they are undoubtedly, heavenly they don’t even closely capture the beauty of the scene. It was, for the lack of a better word, magical.  Looking at it, I felt an emotion that I simply cannot transcend in words. It was an amalgamation of all the emotions, of all hopes, of all dreams that mankind has ever had. It made me feel so meaningless, so small, so powerless, I’d say it left a humbler person in its wake.

All you could see was hilltops above the clouds.

In the distance, Mt.Kanchenjunga in all its glory.

 

The horizon tinting orange, then yellow to welcome the sun.

Gift of the gods.

The clouds looked as though they were threatening to spill over, one little push and they’d all fall out.

Mt.Kanchenjunga,the third highest peak in the world.

Slowly, the sun rose, multiplying the beauty of the scene manifold.

The rising sun too bright in its eyes.

Finally, the moment was over, the sun had risen, like it did everyday, but I,I wasn’t the one I was yesterday.