Tale of the Travelling Bug!

Ever since I remember, I have been a travel freak. Ever since I had barely learnt to walk, my parents had packed up that suitcase, filled up the water bottle and stocked up on food for one of our innumerable trips. Mum and Dad have been travel freaks forever. I think my very first trip as a child was South India. Barely 5 and waddling all my way through Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kanyakumari, became my earliest memory of a Road Trip. Ever since then, Mum, Dad, the lil sis and I have explored the length and breadth of India.

I like to call myself a Dedicated Travel Freak. I dream of visiting destinations that need to be seen through a Magnifying glass on a globe. I cherish all the destinations I have visited so far. I re-visit those memories by rummaging through my photographs, of course criticizing my oh-so-sad clothes and hair!

The adventurous road trips through the lush mountains of Himanchal Pradesh, 3-times visited Mclaudgunj became my choicest destination to live when I retire, the trek up Gangotri, the pit stop at Harshil experiencing the purity of the Ganges River, history revisited in the temples of Orissa, watch the last of the Indian Lions at Gir Sanctuary, exclusive family time at Daman & Diu, then-happening-now-embarrassing-visit to Pune & Goa, experience the fall-in-love feeling with Mashorba Valley, Walk through clouds at Narkanda, living the village life at Patnitop by taking a tea break at a local’s house, watch my mum gather wild plants and moss samples whilst on a road trip and crack insane jokes, hang my head out of the window and sing loudly with the lil sis through winding mountain roads, crib when Dad plays sad music…. Just some of the memories that strike me when I think of Road Trips with my Family…

My parents have been extra enthusiastic about travelling (Didn’t I call them freaks some time back?) and have always insisted on packing our lives in our little car and get set go! Let me tell you another instance that just goes on to prove that my parents are Travel Freaks (there I said it again!!). I am a History graduate and have studied the Egyptian History in detail. My dad decided to take the family to Egypt and his explanation was “you have studied the history. What is the point of it if you do not experience it?” Awww right? I know!

Hence proven: I am a Travel Freak. Travelling and experiencing the sounds & sights of the world has been instilled in me since I learnt how to walk. Fortunately for me, I have found a partner who wants to see the world too. Our 1^st trip after marriage was the awe-inspiring, utterly romantic, the picturesque French Riviera followed by Christmas Eve in Paris. Don’t get me wrong here, but we were not really the by-products of the Kings. But somehow, the travel itch did not compel us to fall for the very regular places. We wanted to experience a place that had some meaning to it, had a culture that had a meaning related to our love and what better place to celebrate our commitment than Paris and the French Riviera.

Since then we have travelled a lot of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and a bit of Kerala. I keep a cheat sheet. It has a list of all the places around Bangalore, almost unknown to almost famous; I want to see it all. I have another list. This is the Golden List of places I need to visit before I Die. These may be your regular destinations or destinations you would not dream of going, but they make to my list. As explained earlier in my post on the love for Discovery Travel & Living, I have been brought up on a staple diet of Samantha Brown and Ian Wright. Watching them experience the world and its beauty made me draw this list. So here goes:

• Venice & Florence: Maybe on the list of every romantic, the mere mention of these 2 destinations makes me go awwwwwww. I must have been a Roman Queen in my past life!
• Greece: I love Mediterranean everything. I think their outlook towards life, their love for the good life and their love for a non-run-your-ass-off-through-life attitude makes me want to live in Santorini for the rest of my life. The idea of history entwined with culture, beauty, beaches and parties in one single country – makes it all worth it!
• New York: Yeah Yeah! I know, it is so very regular. But I want to experience Times Square and 5^th Avenue, feel the fast-paced life and watch what I have only experienced thanks to celluloid.
• Bora Bora: The sound of the place makes me very happy. Doesn’t it sound like a happy place where life doesn’t rush and lets you feel each moment as eternity?
• Jamaica, Costa Rica… The Caribbean’s: Something about the Caribbean’s makes me swoon. It reminds me of singing and dancing on the streets, music flowing out of cafes till the wee hours, white sands and blue waters. It somehow reminds me of Heaven by the Ocean…
• New Zealand: just for the majestic feel of it. I just think it has the kind of natural beauty I have never seen anywhere else. It is so Raw!
• Marrakesh, Morocco: The charm of the old world entices me. Period.
• Austria (Salzburg), Hungary (Budapest), Germany (Black Forest), Poland (Warsaw), Belgium (Brussels), Czech Republic (Prague), Norway (Oslo), Denmark (Copenhagen) – Need I say more?
• Laos: The colonial charm, the lifestyle, the royalty charms me to this place.
• Scotland & Ireland: The Irish Cream and Scottish Highlands I think do it for me. What say you?

That would be all Ladies & Gentlemen…  I know there are many more places that are waiting to peep out of my brains and say “Hey you forgot me!”… I will put them in as and when they come to the forefront! This is me, bitten by the travel bug (pretty badly), signing off! Till the next trip…