Why do I travel? I travel to meet life; I travel to feel things which I otherwise forget during the humdrum of daily routine.

Picturesque Moléson in Switzerland
Why do I travel?
I travel to celebrate winter; I travel to realize no matter how strong is the gray winter, spring arrives; I travel to rescue some fallen leaves in autumn which remind me that death too can be colorful; I travel to let my worries melt away in the summer sun; I travel to witness magic in the sky through the rising and setting sun, rainbow, and twinkling stars; I travel to meet life.
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I travel to meet life. Click To Tweet

Setting sun on the Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA
Traveling opens the door to beauty
Traveling opens the door to beauty through nature, architecture, and art in my life. Beautiful things influence my mind and my thoughts. I feel happy. Beauty, happiness, aesthetics are intangible and so it is hard to dissect them and analyze them; I just feel them and they enrich me and my life.
Traveling opens the door to beauty through nature, architecture, and art in my life. Click To Tweet
Beautiful Lugano in Switzerland
Traveling lets me enjoy silence and solitude
While I travel, I often sit in a place far away from people and feel the silence. I cherish solitude. As I immerse myself amidst the surroundings, words become needless. I enjoy a strange comfort in the middle of the unknown.
I enjoy a strange comfort in the middle of the unknown. Click To Tweet
Lake of the Woods, Oregon, USA
Traveling is learning
The amount of exposure I got from traveling is beyond imagination. I doubt any number of books can ever match that! It changed my views on so many aspects of life, including the incredible diversity of food from different countries and cultures. There is always a small but significant change in my worldview when I come out of a museum or an exhibition. Traveling is seeing; seeing is experiencing; experiencing is learning! Traveling can even become directly impactful when we opt to volunteer for social and environmental causes as a part of exploring a place.
Midnight Milk

Midnight Milk by Marie Sjøvold – a Norwegian photographer
I saw this photograph in an exhibition at The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. It was a thought-provoking exhibition that I remember fondly.
Midnight Milk presents the woman as mother. How does a woman’s expectations of herself change when she becomes a mother? In a modern society, what role does a woman assume as the mother? How does she perceive herself and how do others see her? How does she adjust to the changed role images? These are the questions that Marie Sjøvold – a Norwegian photographer explores.
When I saw this exhibition I was not a mother, but now I am. I feel these are important questions that a modern society should answer. Progress is not limited to the advancement of artificial intelligence or technology after all!
Traveling is meeting people
Traveling is an experience which one cannot do without human connection. From the moment I sit inside a train, plane or a bus, my eyes meet with so many people – I remember some and some I don’t; but the crux of the story is they make all the difference. My travel experience becomes a travel story. Places remain same; it is perspectives and incidents that make us read about a well-known place yet another time.

In front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy
It was during the Christmas time, 2010. Siddhartha and I wanted to click a picture in front of the Colosseum after completing our visit to the largest amphitheater ever built. We asked a gentleman to click for us. He gave our camera to his wife and asked us whether he could be with us. He said it will be a memory which you will remember forever. A sweet incident in front of the Colosseum that still brings a smile on our faces. Probably we would never meet him again, yet he remains with us in our story.
Traveling builds a castle of memories
Imagine a rainy winter afternoon! You are not in a mood to read any notifications; instead, you make yourself a cup of coffee and sit down on a cozy sofa with just a lamp. You close your eyes and within a matter of some seconds you can find yourself sitting amidst green mountains; strolling a cobbled street in an old European town; counting waves on the shores of the Pacific or you fimd yourself in the middle of a conversation about the Hungarian dishes inside a train from Austria to Budapest! Traveling gives us a treasure called memories!
Traveling gives us a treasure called memories! Click To Tweet
Traveling is food to my five senses, mind and soul
Travel rejuvenates my senses. The smell of tulips during the spring, the sound of a waterfall from a distance, the beautiful paintings in the museums, the taste of hot wine in the Christmas markets and books inside the famous libraries are some of the experiences I love. Travel influences my thoughts on almost any topic. Travel stops my mind from crisscrossing the lanes of worries and anxieties. I travel to slow down and to find peace within.
I travel to slow down and to find peace within. Click To Tweet

I was penning down some of my travel realizations at a cafe in Oregon, USA
Travel Realizations
No matter how long I live, my travel experiences will be my companion forever. I will keep on writing them on this blog and will keep sharing them with you all.
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Tell me, why do you travel?
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