An Ode To Travel Or Maybe Not

Along with the other grievances about being stuck at home, this year has also been one of cancelled trips and postponed plans. But look on the bright side — there are some things you’ll never miss about travelling.

- Charukesi Ramadurai

In another time — indeed, in what seems now like another lifetime — I lived an itinerant life. When I was not actually travelling, I was sure to be planning my next travel. I constantly pored over online maps and lamented over the fact that there was so much to see and so little time. I spent countless hours reading up on immersive culture stories as well as dry and dreadful destination listicles with equal delight. I revelled in the endless drama of longhaul flights and missed connections, and thrived in the weary cesspool of jetlag and inadequate sleep.

You see, I was a professional travel writer, spending over a week every month in a new country, waking up in a new hotel bed. Being constantly on the go kept me energised and motivated; being able to decipher and describe what I had seen, heard and experienced in my travels for readers gave me unmitigated joy. While travel helped me evolve as a person, it also helped me escape the monotony of a regulated life. Staying put in one place made me antsy and anxious, made me long for the romance of the open road.

And yet, here I am, at the very end of this gut-wrenching, soul-sucking roller coaster ride that the year 2020 has been for me, and practically everyone else in the world. So yes, there are many things I miss about travel — new places, new experiences, and most importantly, new people. The human connection that travel creates is unparalleled and irreplaceable. And all I can do is go back to the photos on my phone and sigh over that night in Copenhagen or that day at the Grand Canyon.

Having said all this, I must also confess — there are also many things that I don’t miss about travel.

AIRPORT NIGHTMARES