Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain
I’m reading ‘The Happiness of Pursuit’ by Chris Guillebeau an entrepreneur, a traveler and a New York Times bestselling author who has visited every country in the world – 193 in all.
For most of his adult life he has modeled the proven definition of an entrepreneur: “Someone who will work twenty four hours a day for themselves to avoid working one hour a day for someone else.” His earlier book ‘The $100 Startup,’ was an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller with hundreds of thousands of copies sold worldwide.
I too started my adult life as a traveler in the days when the Indian government allowed a traveler only the princely sum of eight dollars or an equivalent foreign currency. Raj Kapoor had just made a movie ‘Around The World In Eight Dollars,’ a Bollywood romantic comedy released in 1967. It was India’s first 70mm film shot all around the world, starring Rajshree, Ameeta, Om Prakash, and Mehmood.
Travel has helped me understand myself in ways I might have missed if I hadn’t been to all the places I’ve been to – nowhere near 193 countries, only to most countries in all the continents except Australia and South America which are on my bucket list. I think if we could all learn to see our lives more as a journey than a destination, we’d be better off for the insights we would gain.
My journeys started when I left my home in New Delhi to study in Ajmer, Rajasthan. It was an overnight train journey. I don’t recall the exact details, but now the train is called 12015/ New Delhi – Daurai (Ajmer) Shatabdi Express. I would regularly make that trip for four years, not always happy to leave home – an unforgettable experience on the old steam locomotive that is still vivid in my mind.
But my real journeys began with Beirut and Rome en route to Los Angeles as a foreign student. I returned to India briefly before coming to Dubai, where I lived for 38 years before moving to the U.S. My travels to India far exceed the number of years I lived in the Gulf.
I find a way to takeaway something memorable to write about wherever I go, something that stays in my mind or my camera, something that helps me find a little more of myself, to learn who I am.
Author Jeff Goins says, “Journeys define us. They are important markers of our lives. And they remind us that we are all travelers of some sort. Journeys reveal our shortcomings. They show us we are not alone in this world. That there are other wanderers out there, in search of truth and meaning in this great big, confusing universe. To find. To lose. To become. The lesson of all journeys is this: Life is not stable, and we’re not in control. All we can do is enjoy the ride. It’s a process of leaving and arriving, of losing yourself and finding it again. And if these are our only criteria, anything can be a journey, as long as you are intentional.”
In his book Chris Guillebeau concludes that there is a direct correlation between having a quest and being happy. Don Quixote de la Mancha’s quest comes to mind. He wanted to be a knight in shining armour, even when folks around taunted him, and called him insane. Guillebeau warns, ‘Not everyone has to believe in your dream, but you do’.
I am still a wanderer in search of answers, still a pilgrim in a foreign land and every so often, Guillebeau’s warning comes to mind.
Frank Raj is the founding editor and author of ‘Desh Aur Diaspora.’
