Wow Your Wanderlust

If you are getting ready to pack your bags this travel season, we've got you covered. We not only have recommendations on destinations but also all the information, right from the details of the flight, accommodation, places to see, the local delicacies and how much the trip will cost you

- Sutirtha Sanyal

Every once in a while, Nilanjan Biswan, 46, who is an officer in the Indian Railways by profession and a naturalist by passion, takes a solo trip. He loves those few days of solitude and wanderlust, away from the daily grind of administrative work and household responsibilities of grocery shopping and attending parent-teacher meetings at his son’s school.

Early this year, he took a whirlwind trip across Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia and came back after 21 days with lots of stories and souvenirs. A week before his trip, he saw a documentary on Lolong, the largest saltwater crocodile recorded at 6.17 metres (20.24 feet) long and weighing over a tonne, that was captured around the Bunawan Creek in the Philippines, and the reported sightings of even bigger specimens that still lurk in the waters around SE Asia. Though he managed sightings of saltwater crocodiles at nature parks, the big one was elusive.

Human beings have been explorers by nature and have unearthed hidden places over centuries. It was the unknown continents and sea routes during Columbus’ time, the hinterlands of Africa during the Victorian Age, the poles during the Golden Age of Polar Exploration or space exploration, which started in the aftermath of World War II on the back of advances in rocketry, and which remains an ongoing pursuit, as does the exploration of the deepest parts of our oceans, which has fascinated our interest since the times Jules Verne came out with his seminal science fiction novels more than 200 years ago, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Mysterious Island.

Most of us look for that little window to unwind ourselves and rush off to our own El Dorados in quest of our passion, wanderlust, tranquility or solitude or to simply take a break from the daily humdrum of life. The Covid-19 pandemic did put the brakes to our journeys, but only for so long.