His holiness Gautam Buddha said there are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. He was talking about the journey that one needed to take in one’s mind and perhaps even physically to learn the truth. Journeys are an important aspect in life. It can change one’s perspective and perhaps add more nuance. Sadly, perhaps for the first time in perhaps a hundred years, travel between borders and across borders have stopped thanks to the virus. In Goa, it is not unusual for people to go on holidays every six months, often out of the country. Now all that has come to a standstill. Karen Fernandes a marketing executive who handles sales in the digital media makes it a point to travel abroad every other year. She was scheduled to visit Australia and then New York with her family but now everything is at a standstill. Karen said “We had planned everything down to the last detail but everything had to be stopped after we learnt of the situation in Australia and then New York. We enjoy travelling and have been to Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, England, Canada and France.” She said she loved travelling and the pleasure of meeting new people and observing new cultures was incalculable. All that was now history and sweet memories. She said she had would go back to her albums to revisit those pleasurable memories.
For legal luminary Carlos Ferreira the lockdown has been a rude shock. He said “There is no better experience than travel, meeting of similar minds, exchanging notes and the thrill of reaching the destination with many real-life stories of the travails en route and satisfaction at the end of the journey is indescribable”. He admitted with the lockdown, the natural instinct to move and be unbound is greater. He said “ But since this is a choice we need to make of life over death and cannot afford to endanger others” For another obsessive traveller this lockdown has given him an opportunity to connect with friends and revisit old memories. Milroy Goes said he was online a lot connecting with friends around the world. He said he had plans to visit Dubai and Italy but the virus had put paid to his plans. Milroy, a filmmaker, said the motivation behind travelling to new places was to observe new cultures and gain inspiration for ideas that were popping in his head. He said “Travel is a kind of medication and it is always a pleasure to meet like minded people in other parts of the world and exchange ideas”. Now he was basically sitting at home and mulling over ideas and discussing it with friends.
For Rahul Rodriguez, travel has been a balm to soothe nerves. The consultant in the sports infrastructure business is spending these days looking at old photographs taken in places like Cambodia, Vietnam and Bali to name a few. He hopes to visit Rajasthan once the lockdown is lifted. He has also visited Kerala and enjoyed the cuisine which is so unlike Goan cuisine. Rahul is just relaxing and enjoying the stillness.
Another individual who is enjoying the break by upscaling his skills and planning his trips over the next two years. Andre Shackleton, corporate trainer has visited Singapore, Hongkong, Dubai, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zambia. He intends to visit Sri Lanka again other fancy parts of the world on work and pleasure. He said “It is always a humbling experience to visit new places and meet new people and observe customs and traditions”. Travel expands the mind and adds new hues to one’s life. Now perhaps one can only look back at memories past and smile.
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Want to travel? All you can do is go back in time
If going up in the clouds or taking long drives is your passion, it is more likely that you are looking pictures of holidays past, saved on icloud or Google drive. All one is left of travel is memories. And it’ll be a long time till you can hit the road less travelled
