fernweh

fernweh (n.) an ache for distant places; the craving for travel

I didn’t know a word existed that could express the desire and the mad rush I felt whenever I thought of a place I wanted to visit until I stumbled onto “fernweh”. It’s a German word which means - when you feel like you have to leave your familiar surroundings to discover new places. And this hit the nail on the head.

Not being the lone traveler sort of a person, I usually make travel plans with my friends, most of which fall through, but this in itself is like a path to discovery wherein we research on one destination and fall onto so many others that we want to go to that the list is endless. So I started to maintain a list of sorts and the top three of these currently include: Rio de Jeneiro, New Zealand and Japan.  And not to forget the many other local places that I want to visit within the country.

When I’m not travelling or making travel plans or planning to make travel plans, I follow many travel blogs, shows and websites and live my dream through them.

Why I like to travel is a thought that has crossed my mind many a times because travel comes linked with so much effort - to look for places to go to, to plan an itinerary, to think of an economical and yet a fun route, places to stay, things to do, to consider individual concerns and wishes, en-route toilets, the local weather and currency and it goes on. I have done this routine time and again for every travel of mine but at the end of it when I set foot onto the new land and experience what it has to offer, all the effort that I put in is justified. I have always come back from my trips - a happy and contented soul, ready to go through the grind of planning another trip all the way again.

What I enjoy best about travel is the experience that it brings which in a sense is the expansion of the mind and its horizons. Meeting new people, discovering their ways and their culture, realizing how different and at the same time similar they are to us, adapting to their food and habits, seeing new places and learning about their history, are some of the things that no amount of reading or browsing would give me. It is all about being there and soaking it in and making it a part of my own fabric which finally re-defines who I am.

Travel also has an underlying reward; it helps to forge great relationships be it in the form of new friends or strengthening what you already have with your companions.  Sharing new moments, and riding the same wave of excitement and anxiety with someone, puts us at a higher level of synchrony than any common get-togethers would.

Signing off with a quote that completely resonates with me and with other travel lovers – travel is the only thing that you can buy which makes you richer.