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‘Settling Down’ Is Boring! Travel Far And Wide, Be Free And Wild, Become A Gypsy!

By Adya Vac in Travel
29th November, 2013

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By Adya Vac:

There are so many quotes, movies, songs, books and people doing rounds in my head that tell me to quit all worry of the future and just live, now. Today. In this moment. And I’m sure you must know quite a few of them already. And as I write this, I feel a longing for something I have experienced in my dreams and only fleetingly in reality, and yet it is something I can almost define.

travel

Did you ever get that feeling, that cliche kind of feeling, the one you only hear people talking about and very few experiencing? When you want to run off, out of the house, down a hill, up a mountain, to that heavenly beach, or a gigantic tree, an old museum, that broken down archaeological dig, the music concert you have been waiting for, book signing by the author who practically changed your life, the really famous haunted fort you told your friends you’re not scared of. Oh I could go on and on an on, and the list still wouldn’t be done. And as haphazard and impulsive as this sounds or rather reads, I have my list, albeit it just keeps growing.

Why is that, even after having all the amenities and conveniences you could ask for in one place, your feet and your head just can’t shake off that itch? Why is it that people, thousands of years ago, walked across the globe? And they literally walked. Was it simply a need for resources and safety? And why did they take so many different directions? Into unfamiliar territory, with nothing to guide or warn them about the manifold dangers that awaited them. And yet they pushed themselves, body and spirit, and went on to build the greatest civilizations we have known. Of course I don’t think I am ever going to build a civilization, I might not even build a house for all I know! But the point is, do I want a permanent, changeless home?

I have tried to explain this to my parents. I have seen people of my age group try and bring up this topic of travelling with their family, relatives, peers and colleagues. The consequence has been a rephrasing of the same words : “Get a job, get married, settle down and then do this/It’s all hype, you have a family to look after, you have obligations and duties.” And whenever I hear this I am reminded of a friend who once said to me “people don’t settle, its mud that settles, just mud. Do you want to be mud?” It’s true that a price of living in society is the commitments we have towards them, but what about our rights? As I see it, when we die, the checklist of duties is pretty much done over and over, and the one for our interests, hobbies and wishes remains painfully unchecked.

How do you make these conventional, weirdly content people (parents, family etc.) understand what you want from life? More importantly, what do you do when you realize that there is nothing you can to do to make them see your point of view? Do you give up and settle down? After all these people, especially the older ones, have experienced. They know better, parents always know better, because they have seen the world- but have they?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t be mud, I can’t ‘settle’ down. Not before I have lived my life, my way. There are hundreds of places, at least, where I want to go. I want to see the oldest relics that my ancestors made, the bluest waters that the earth has conjured, the skies where they laugh out a thousand shooting stars and auroras, soils that still remember the fight for freedom and the blood shed in the process, places where legendary movies have been shot, towns so breathtakingly beautiful that they have been called mythical abodes, caves deep and far where you can almost feel the lives long gone, trees and monuments that have somehow survived our barbarity for ages, the pavements, stations, forests, graves- all of which that inspired authors to create an altogether new world, places of worship and religion that make you want to believe in god, see architecture and creations that speak of humankind’s spirit to live, to fight, their yearning for freedom, their works which convince you that a human is no less than a god, that we are in fact divinity- and more.

And then, I want to meet new people who shake the very foundations of my beliefs and challenge my thoughts, force me to think and evolve. And I want to go on this voyage to see the world with people who I feel are my kindred and of my choosing (family vacations don’t offer too much choice!) or wish to be wanderers, just like me.

So as I finish up this piece, I wish best of luck to me, and to everyone out there, who is trying to live such a life, and make their own selves happy for a change, instead of that endless line of pessimistic people. To all of you who want to be gypsies, even if temporarily. It’s a short life, and as they say, I’m paraphrasing here, it’s not like you’re going to make it out alive.

P.S. : This article is a tad bit dedicated to a friend, G, who has been an on and off, here and there, (Don’t ask me what that means :P) muse for me. The said person is also a fellow ‘dying to be wanderer’, thus the dedication. Hope we get to do this together sometime!

You must be to comment.

  1. Rajshree Sharma

    Here I am sitting at the same place for the past one hour, preparing for tomorrow’s exam and then you decide to put up this article. Not fair! *filled with long repressed wanderlust*

    1. Adya Vac

      I too have an exam tomorrow 😛
      But, I feel like everyday of life is an exam: ‘how long can you stay unhappy like this’. And we really need to fail that one!!!!

  2. SocialBiker

    This article struck the right chords, aligned me to what I am and provided a secret inspiration. Thanks friend for mapping me back to the road. North India this time in winters, can feel the chills 🙂

    1. Adya Vac

      It feels great to have been an inspiration. Next time, let it come form within. 🙂
      P.S. What’s the secret?

  3. Akhil Kumar

    I enjoyed every word of this. Very well written and instantly connects with the nomadic at heart 🙂 I felt that I would have used the exact same words and sentences had I written it myself. A refreshing read, thank you 🙂

    1. adya00

      Thank you 🙂

  4. Diksha

    I too wish to be a gypsy!!! I crave for adventure! I’ve already decided that I wont settle down…. And i like ur words “its mud that settles” and I don’t want to be mud!! I long to have this life full of thrill. U spoke my heart! It was refreshing reading this article.. Nice to know that many out there are just like me , desperate to become”wandering clouds” .

    1. adya00

      Oh trust me there are scores and scores like us!!!! 😀

  5. A.K. Kar

    Settling down is always over rated. Why settle for something that does not allow you to reach for your dreams.. Refreshing thoughts..

    1. adya00

      I don’t know if settling down is over rated, but I definitely know that ‘not settling down’ is extremely under rated!!

  6. Varsha

    Amazing! You just wrote my thoughs! I am not and will not be ‘mud’. I sometimes wish we never had these boundaries, no money mking economies, no passport and visa nuisances, no money matters, just the land and its beautiful waters where I could walk on and on and on, to travel, explore, learn, live!
    If we believe, we can. Its just one life we;ve got, and its very short to be spent listening to others. So get up, get going, time’s runnung out people!

    1. adya00

      Umm well, no money making economies, that’s extreme eh? But I get the feeling, The trapped feeling.

  7. Shihan

    This is my life….exactly…..past….present & future……
    Just need a partner……….’Come with Me’

    1. adya00

      haha, I guess some day 🙂 (I’m assuming its me :P)

    2. Shihanpranav

      Dont assume….it is you….i’m asking……

    3. adya00

      hahaha. ok 🙂

  8. Alisha Sinha

    Amazing..This is ME.. My life is all about Travel and exploring new places and meeting new people.. U just spoke my mind 🙂

    1. adya00

      😀

  9. Venky

    In hindi ‘Zabardast’!

    1. adya00

      🙂

  10. akshat

    It is like seeing my views being reflected in murky waters. But, there are some areas I get fixated to the point I start questioning my beliefs. When we travel far and wide to experience and live our lives, isn’t travelling a means to achieving an end? That end is to live a life well lived such that at 60, we can say that it is my time to die and I did good by those last 60 years. In that case, is traveling and experiencing a physical view of our extremely complicated world the best way to achieving such an end? Is scraping the surface all we can dream of? Is travelling for a few months going to justify my life? Will a few years be enough? Is travelling the most appropriate means to the end I aim to achieve. Should I be aiming to begin with?

    Our definition of travelling is to experience a nomadic existence such that we denounce our everyday instincts and have no plans and no aims to fulfill. But, ultimately we are like every star in the galaxy, burning till we eventually fall off. 🙁

    1. adya00

      You have such a pessimist view 🙂
      Why do we think of the physical as bad and the mind as the good? Can any exist without the other? Our body is the temple where everything of us resides. If the body dies we die, if our mind die(brain damage) the body is of no use.
      Its not scraping the surface. Will a few years be enough? That is a very subjective question.
      “no plans and no aims to fulfill”. What if my aim is traveling? To see the world?
      Of course we die, and that’s why its important to make it worth it.

  11. Gurpreet Singh Gosal

    Don’t ‘grow up’, its a trap!

  12. Kevin

    whoooooo….i love to travel..in fact i love to flow like a river but sometimes circumstances build a big dam in your path and you just stop and water get contaminated..but one day i will flow for sure.it is not far…River never flows to reach to the ocean.it ust flows..no matter what will be at the end…but one thing is for sure..it hardly dry before it reach to the ocean.And ponds are stagnant and meant to be dry..

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