Perspective of travelers

Hello everyone, I hope that many of you are aware about one teaching of a Spiritual Studies that “We are all Tourists on this Planet, we come here to experience Human life on this planet and leave as soon as we fulfil our desires”. To understand this thoroughly you should study the Spiritual knowledge taught by Bramha Kumaris. You can get the total concepts from internet itself that who are we, how do we land on this planet, how do we travel across the planet, how do we depart from this planet , how God act as a guide to us & how do we establish & experience all the relations with God.

It is also said that we are Guests on this Planet.

So in this article I would like to explain the different perspectives of travelers, means how people travel, how they make plans and how do they experience different places according to their tastes and preferences.

But before I begin the actual topic, I would like to tell a short story which made me a Systematic Travel Planner. I was born in Durgapur (West Bengal) in 1997, then moved to Indore (Madhya Pradesh) where my father worked till 2001. While I was living in Indore we used to do day trips with our own vehicle(start in morning & return to our home by evening). In 1999, during winter we planned a trip to Shridi Sai (Maharashtra) with my father’s friends. But unfortunately we couldn’t reach there because I fell sick during the long road journey. We (me with my parents) got down in the mid way booked a hotel for that night and return to our home next morning. But my father’s friends completed the trip.

In the year 2001, we shifted to Kolkata (my present hometown). My first long trip was Puri in 2002. The experience was so good that I can’t explain you in words, now also when I think of that experience I feel needles on my skin. When we landed in Puri it was totally dark and I could hear the strong roar of waves. Slowly when the Sun rose I could see actual color of sea water which was deep blue. And then got the joy of bathing in it. It was my first long trip to a scenic place, which ignited in me the love for this place and it’s environment. For long period of time this place attracted me like anything. Then I visited this place in 2012,2016 & 2022. In 2022, Chilka Lake tour & it’s experience was the new addition to our trip to familiar place.

Also 2002 was the lucky year for me as in Summer I visited Taj Mahal (one of the 7 wonders in the World) from Delhi and in the same year in winter I visited Puri. In Delhi my maternal grand parents and uncle used to live at that time. But I didn’t get the flavor like Darjeeling and Puri in Delhi & Agra trip because I like to visit the places with beautiful & interesting landscapes such as Mountains, Sea shores & waterfalls. I remember how we traveled to Taj Mahal in that hot summer without Air Conditioner which was Luxury during those period. I remember that during that time period (2002-2005) me with my mom used to go to Delhi every year in Poorva express in Non AC coaches in my summer vacations which was 24 hours journey from Kolkata. As we used to travel Delhi every year, so travelling in AC coaches every time was simply out of question. But sometimes we used to travel by Rajdhani express or other trains AC coaches in alternate years & travelling in flight was totally out of question. But now we travel in AC Coaches even if we do a short trip.

This same magic(of 2002) was repeated in the year 2022 (20 years later), the year I visited Darjeeling in March & Puri in November. The same year we travelled from Mountains to Sea shores.

Then we started travelling across the Eastern regions of India that is Digha (West Bengal) in 2005,Darjeeling(West Bengal) & East Sikkim in 2006, Bakkhali (West Bengal) in 2010, North Sikkim in 2018,Dhanbad(Jharkhand) & Mainpat (Chattisgarh) in 2024.

So now let me come to the point. Nowadays many people from young to old generations love to travel. Some people travel for time pass and some people travel to experience the specialty of that place. I saw one of my paternal uncle, who worked in Central Govt., didn’t travelled to any of the tourist hotspots during his childhood & even during his service period due to his personal obligations & liabilities. But now as a retired person with a good amount of pension,he is travelling more than one tourist hotspots in a year. This habit of travelling ignited in me during my student life when I didn’t had any income & my father was the only earning member in my family with lot of obligations. During that time I used to face challenges, & frequency of trips were very less because I had to depend on him for each and every expenses. The pattern of our trip was 1 trip in every two years. Here trip means trip to places like Darjeeling,Puri,Sikkim & not to be confused with Delhi where we used to travel every year because my mom’s parents & her brother used to live there. So these challenges made me a Systematic Travel Planner. I understood the value of each trip, how we spend our hard earned money for our entertainment.

Now Let me explain about the different types of travelers

1. Travelling for Time pass- people of this category travel for time pass, sake of wasting money, to manage their mood swings. They do not make a proper planning, do not analyze whether the level of Satisfaction received by travelling the place would reach & exceed the level expenses incurred or not. I know few people who travel to suppress their negative feelings or moods like (anger,irritation). They do not choose the places according to time,expenses etc. they just visit the place randomly. For example, if a person is in a low mood they visit Darjeeling or Sikkim in monsoon, or Puri in summer which is not recommendable at all. Many people travel same spot every year due to their attachment with their place. Like people living in Kolkata visiting Digha/Bakkhali/Puri every year , people living in Delhi visiting Mussourie every year,people living in Chennai visiting Kanyakumari every year,People living in Mumbai visiting Goa every year even if they feel bored with same places.

2. Travelling for experiencing speciality of that place- This category of travellers love to visit places to experience their speciality. For example- visiting Vizag for experiencing the beauty of mountains & Sea shores. Visiting Jagdalpur for witnessing India’s Niagra falls & India’s best waterfalls. Visiting Sikkim in order to experience snowfall. Before going to a place they analyze whether the level of Satisfaction will reach and exceed the level of expenses incurred for the place or not. As they consider that travelling involves spending hard earned money for few days enjoyment.

The formulaes of planning a trip

1. Level of Satisfaction = or > Level of Expenses(profitable)

2. Level of Satisfaction < Level of Expenses(Loss)

I always prefer formulae no. 1 which is always profitable. I mean travel few places but it should provide you with full satisfaction. In other words, keep an objective to experience new and unique things from each and every places. I wrote this article by keeping in mind about general people or middle class families.