Travelling Alone

What is the greatest achievement of your life?

Here's mine : I travelled around Himachal Pradesh all by myself !! If you think its not much I have to remind you of the fact that I'm an eligible bachelor and Himachal Pradesh is full of dark, uninhabited jungles. Its not quite the same thing as the fields of Bihar, but its enough to drive a sissy up a mole hill.

An average student throughout my schooling, I was incredibly lucky to land a job that pays. Taking to the swamp like my cat takes to a pillow I settled smugly in a dark corner and have lived happily ever since. But every now and then a flea bite wakes me up from my serene existence and I begin to wonder if I've done enough with my time. Thats when I roll over on my back and ask myself: What is the coolest thing I've done?

Travelling alone is an adventure. More like a conquest actually. After carefully planning your course, you need to book tickets all by yourself. The first challenge is to get to the airport or train station in time, atleast on time. If negotiated safely you reach the battlefield where a host of critical decisions have to be made - which hotel, what's for lunch, what to see, is it worth the trouble...Finally you have to talk yourself into seeing those sights. All of this has to be done single handedly, without mum being around to give you those helpful tips. At the end of the week you begin to empathize with Alexander The Great. You understand his wish to return home.

That said there are numerous positives to travelling alone. You can be totally yourself. Consensus is easy to achieve. You call all the shots. Lunch is not shared with anybody. Staying away from human contact (metaphorically ofcourse) is a refreshing experience.

It is that time of the year when I have the urge to reassure myself that I'm still upto it. If you have a similar urge, you can join me on a lonely trip to the badlands of Mordor. What say you?