Traveling is an experience. It’s learning in a capsule. It’s growth through seeing and being present.
For people of my generation childhood memories are packed with train journeys during summer vacations. The destination was always the same – the small sleepy town where the grandparents lived. It was an annual journey, yet it was always exciting.
We’d keep a diary to note down the names of the railway stations we crossed. Of course, we missed noting quite a few.
Later, our grandfather would help us trace the route on the physical map to see how far we had travelled. That was our first lessons about this beautiful country.
The Train as a Moving Classroom
Geography in classroom wasn’t half this exciting. We saw the changes in the landscape, the way people dressed, the kind of food popular in those areas, houses, fields, crops grown.
Also got to learn the name of new places, saw the different scripts on the yellow name boards at the end of the platforms. Heard a variety of languages and dialects as the train chugged along the steel rails.
Some passengers got off, new ones replaced them. Learn to make friends with strangers. At one of the railway stations our coach stopped beyond the platform. One of the co passenger, offered to get food for the rest of us in the coupe.
Strangers become friends in that short duration. Sharing food with an open heart and mind. No religious or caste boundaries.
No veg/non-veg barricades. Learnt first-hand about embracing differences without knowing about inclusivity or diversity.
The Airport Generation
Fast forward to now and the travel has shifted to Airways. No complaints but it’s flat – no emotional connect. It’s comparatively sterile and impersonal.
Each airport mirrors the other. The same fabricated comforts of varying magnitudes, the same food chains, designer products, exclusive showrooms.
Everyone sitting with their laptops or kindles and ears encased in earphones or headphones, closed to the world around.
How do you make friends in this situation? How can one make any form of conversation?
Once you walk through the bridge into the plane, the door closes. And when it lands, you reach the next destination. You’ve no idea what lands you traversed, what rivers or seas you crossed, what settlements you flew over, what people you missed knowing about. It’s like you overrode a complete learning cycle.
Air travel has become a necessity because we’ve to pack whole lot of our life into 24 hours. It saves time and offers comfort. We cover in hours what would’ve earlier taken hours.
The Lost Lessons of Travel
Kids today have travelled the world but sadly haven’t experienced it.
Their customised vacations are just that. Their exploration is restricted to between the hotel and the dozen ‘must visit’ sites and restaurants.
The curated tours are filled with Instagram-perfect moments. Hollow yet beautiful.
What they miss out on is observing the local life, talking to the people, understanding the topography, the unique culture or soaking in the rhythm of everyday life.
We were discussing travel in class and I mentioned a road trip where we had crossed orchards, and how we stopped and plucked a few apples from the trees (with the fruit pickers guiding us to the low branches!)
The students were aghast! One, that our parents allowed us to have unwashed apples (there could be worms or chemicals on them).
Two, that we ‘stole’ the apples and our parents didn’t mind or scold us.
And three, why did we’ve to stop and pluck when it was available in the market?
I don’t remember what I replied because I was thinking about something else.
I was feeling bad for these children. They see the final destination, each place for itself.
They don’t experience the ‘in between’ – the small towns, the fields, the marketplaces, the journey and the people. They grow up with fragmented belonging.
The focus is on the superficial, not the essence.
It’s all virtual, their travel and their experience. Their exposure is filtered through a screen. It’s not their mistake that they don’t ‘see’ or ‘feel’ anything.
Reclaiming the Learning in Travel
Traveling was always about exploring, about curiosity about the world. And that in turn teaches adaptability, acceptance and empathy.
- Try out slow travel sometimes. Go on road trips or train travels or even hikes and treks.
- Let them explore nature by themselves instead on their laptops.
- Encourage them to try local cuisine before passing a judgement.
- Learn a few sentences, like greetings, in the local language to connect with the locals.
- Learn about the local history. It’ll be a better way to know more about the place than googling about it.
Travel as a Bridge, Not an Escape
Imagine what the world would have looked like if our ancestors had not moved from their cosy corner?
With everything else, travelling too has undergone changes. It’s no longer with the objective of trade or invasions; it’s also for relaxation and exploration.
So why not explore? Let the children experience the world around them in person. Transform it into a textured experience which enriches their lives in different ways.
The next time you plan a trip, don’t just pick a destination or mode of travel for convenience or crossing out another to-do from your checklist.
Think about how you can make it memorable with the things you did.
