“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”Henry Miller, a 20th century American writer.
Seems I have been bitten by a type of travel bug which is prompting me to take huge risk, as lately I am toying with the idea of travelling over to a place whose location, landscape, culture is unknown to me; a place I know exists but remains unexplored by me. For a change, I want to globe trot to explore and not just tick off the places from a pre-planned bucket list of travels; it will be my #blinddate with the world, to say it aptly.
To further my plans, I decided to take a few days off from work. The job to discover a destination for me was assigned to my friendly neighbourhood travel agency. Now the catch in the situation is that I would get to know about the “coveted place” only after reaching the airport with my luggage, where the person will hand over just the airplane tickets to me and then I am on my own as I set about the thrilling adventure of self-exploration.
Siting in the taxi, on my way to airport my mind wandered off to all the possible places where my blind date with the world would possibly take me.
What if my flight takes me to some mountainous region. A visit to mountains always put things in perspective. For me they act as healing haven which add peace to my life. Could there be anything more calming than soaking in the resplendent views of the valleys; the valleys which change its colour right from the morning till evening under the effect of sun shining through the small tufts of clouds. During my stay, I can see myself exploring mountainous landscape dotted with snow-covered peaks, going on short treks up the hills or pitching my tent by the side of some aquamarine stream where I would spend some time amidst the nature; doing nothing. And if it catches my fancy, might try my hand at skiing too; who knows!!
What if my flight drops me to some Nordic country. Will the inability to speak languages like Danish, Finnish or Swedish hamper my plans to discover a particular region? Nah! I don’t think so; rather managing to communicate with the locals will add to my travel experience. I will just go with the flow, and just when the thought of braving icy-cold Nordic winds to watch the northern lights casted a veil of excitement in front of my eyes, the driver of the taxi applied the brakes and got me out of my reverie. I soon pulled myself back into my wandering mind though.
The idea of treading the vast and hot territories of desert might not be everybody’s idea of vacation but if delightful wadis, oasis and even beaches come in contact with desert land, who would mind staying there briefly. So, if I find myself right in midst of a Desert land, I would enjoy a jeep safari and a camel safari on sand dunes, or wind my way through the souqs to shop for handicrafts and pottery, or even watch a belly dancer dancing to the beats of some Arabian music while I eat the platter full of fruits like Dates and Apricots; I see myself indulging in all.
I hope my travel agent do remember that the sight of turquoise blue water uplifts my mood in a jiffy. I Imagine myself going to an Instagram worthy seaside-getaway where I would run aimlessly on the soft white sand, enjoy the water activities, experience the underwater life or simply hang out at the beach till the sky turn crimson at the dusk. And when the night sets in and its pitch dark, I would just lie on the sand in solitude and watch the star-filled sky till the time I could spot Venus.
Animals never fail to enchant me, so if my blind date with travel requires a visit to wildlife park (how about African Safari?), I will be more than happy. Dressed in my best safari clothes and armed with my DSLR, I see myself on my way to a Jungle safari. Except for the twittering of birds and chatter of monkeys nothing else fills the morning jungle air. We go deep inside the jungle and a few yards ahead I could see a waterhole and expecting some kind of activity, immediately put my head behind the camera lens. I could hear a slight movement behind the bushes and suddenly a head pops out. Wow!! The moment I have been waiting for; the king of the jungle decides to honour us with his presence. I sit motionless looking at the majestic creature; dint blink my eyes, not even the shutter on my cameras. On the way back, we spot two Peacocks showing off their shimmering feathers, a herd of deer and some exotic birds. There are still 2 more days left to explore the African safari and we camp at the outskirts of jungle for the night.
Sitting in the taxi, these are only a few among many go-to places which I could conjure up in my mind at the moment. I am sure once I reach the coveted place, it will open many visions and vistas for me to indulge in. Though a blind date with the place, no matter which city, country or a continent I visit, will require me to manage and execute travel plans all by myself but I am so ready to take on all the surprise challenges; for I know that this adventurous journey will put the spark back into me before I come back home to face the daily grind of the life again.
Ok guys, I am finally at the airport. Wish me AU REVOIR as I embark on a trip to unknown in order to live out my Indiana Jones fantasy.
This is my entry to the #TheBlindList #SayYesToTheWorld contest by Indiblogger in association with Lufthansa India.
Image courtesy: Pixabay
How intriguing your post is! Though I love the idea of traveling to a completely unknown destination, I’d be so anxious about what to pack
Hope you have a lovely trip and look forward to a post about your vacation!
whenever I have chance to tick off places from my #blindlist , will definitely share the experience. Thanks for stopping by.
Having seen the Northern Lights in person I guarantee that it is worth every moment even in freezing temperatures. Reading your post makes me wish I could go on a trip to a far away place soon.
lucky you to witness Northern lights. Let me hear If u have ever or are planning to visit any other place from my #blindlist
I once dream waking up on an island for a vacation, where i was with my family in a small house with my DSLR where i captured and relived my memories. So i can relate with the above post which you have written. Good Work keep posting such amazing article.
Thanku so much Neha for your lovely comments. And yes dreaming about vacations is good but would be great if all our #theblindlist becomes reality.
You have written fabulous article . Blinddate with the world sounds interesting. Would love to go like this trip.
lets hope the places we want to visit from #theblindlist becomes a reality soon.
After reading your post feels like i would also love to travel to an unknown destination with my hubby Really nice keep posting such great article frequently.
I love reading travelogue but this is above a travelogue. It’s filled with so much amusement and excitement. I would too love to go on a blind date with the world.
Watching northern lights is probably one of my biggest dream ever, Loved reading the blog word by word, thank you for sharing
Woww.. wish we could go on a blind date with nature.. the idea of visiting Nordic countries has always been on my mind, only if someday it comes true
I love this overall idea of blind date. As far as to me, Watching Northern lights is indeed a big dream . Beautiful read
An unknown place is intimidating and exiting to me at the same time. I do my research but, o woudl still love to knwo something about the place before I land 😉