Travelling has its own set of benefits and as the younger generation is learning more about budget
travelling, there is a steady increase in the number of Goans travelling around
the country and abroad. Every traveller has fascinating stories to tell on
their return – about the places they visited and their key attractions; this,
in turn, piques the interest of others keen on travelling.
Some of the benefits of travelling,
regardless of age, is that it gives you a reality check and teaches you through
experiences. It improves your social and communication skills and presents
different facets of places you had only read or heard about. In Goa, many
travellers have casually shared information about their travels, but they are
now being offered various platforms to provide more information to those
interested in exploring new places.
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Abner Manzar from Delhi has been to 27
states of India and 12 countries around the world. A student of Sri Aurobindo
International Centre of Education in Pondicherry, he makes the most of his one
and a half months college break by travelling. Every year, he plans a trip in
the months of November and December. While travelling, he posts updates on his
Facebook page ‘Journey is destination’. He has also been documenting his
travels through writings and photographs since the age of 12. Abner was
recently in Goa to share his travelling experience at Museum of Goa, Pilerne
through his talk, ‘The Journey is the Destination’.
“While preparing for it, I wasn’t sure
whether I would be able to speak for 45 minutes, but it turned out to be more
of a conversation that a monologue and the talk was very interactive. Many
participants could relate to my travels and how they plan to travel in the
future on their own. Since I travel on a budget, I could share that information
with them. There are several Facebook pages dedicated to travelling solo and on
Indian roads,” says Abner.
Subodh Kerkar, Director, Museum of Goa, believes that travelling
is of utmost importance for everyone. “Travelling makes you fall in love with
cultures and heritage and the Earth is a god given gift and we have to explore
the world. The best attitude while travelling is to become like a child again
and keep an open mind to observe everything around you. I enjoy travel writing
and through these talks at Museum of Goa, we are encouraging more people to get
motivated to travel. Ramchandra Salgaonkar spoke about budget travel and how
money should be saved annually to plan these travels. Interestingly, there are
23 lakh Goans as part of the Diaspora, more than Goans living here,” says Subodh.
Ramchandra
Salgaonkar, an engineer by profession, is an avid traveller who is taking on
the task of getting more Goans to travel. He has been conducting talks at
International Centre Goa, Dona Paula, Museum of Goa, Pilerne and Clube Harmonia
in Margao for people who are interested in travelling smartly. “My talks were
on the topic ’17 days in 7 European countries under 1000 Euros’, ‘How to do
online booking?’ and ‘How you plan travelling around the world?’. Travelling
can bring about change; it can make the traveller change their perspective of
things around them. Through my talks, I realised that 65 per cent of the
audience were not youngsters but senior citizens. They love travelling and they
wish they had started travelling earlier. The problem in India is that after
completing studies, the next thing is to study further or find a job;
travelling just falls off the list. Countries in Europe, Japan, and the US,
they take 3-4 months break after completing their education to start travelling
and learn from their travelling experience. Goa is a small state and Goans
should not be confined to the area; they should travel,” asserts Ramchandra.
