And the World Tour has begun!

I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand... Adventure is a state of mind - and spirit.

Jacqueline Cochran US aviator (1910 - 1980)

My World Tour is a famous joke on me (which I don't mind) that comes up ever so often in conversations with my friends and family. The root cause: for the longest period of time I kept citing my serious passion/ambition in life as travelling around the world and writing about my journeys in foreign lands. Of course no one believed me! Planning elaborate vacations to new countries is something one can do no more than once or twice a year; in fact if truth be told it would be great to 1. afford and 2. manage one such trip every year :) given our chaotic work and personal lives.

I tried to be sincere to my conscience the past few years but couldn't see a lot of new places. Time and money were both serious Darth Vaders for my travel genie. Even the sights I did visit (see previous post with my world map to see details on places I have left my footprints), I was unable to satiate my travel needs; there just was something missing but its irrational enough that I can't point my finger on it. Apart from Alaska I can't say with surety that I enjoyed myself.

2007 is finally shaping to be the year of my dreams. I am travelling every single month this year and yes I am aware that enjoyment is not in quantity but in quality. But in my unique schrizophenic style I know I have to do it now, it can't wait anymore; if I don't release my adventure spirit completely, very soon it will be inhibited and then life and I will never be the same again!

Its not like I planned anything, in fact till today the only plan was to go to Canada to see my family. But I should have seen my travel bug coming. Last weekend, I ended up spending 2 hours checking out travel guides in a book store followed by 5 more hours of frenzied travel based web surfing. Concurrently, I spent a lot of time on Flickr admiring photographs of places I would like to see, mentally making my own list of places to see before I die. This weekend I ended up having breakfast in a quaint town called Tiburon followed by a trip to a lighthouse from the 1800s (amazingly still functional) at Pt. Bonita. I saw the lighthouse on the news again today as it beaconed and ushered in the 2700 passenger cruiseliner Queen Mary in to the San Franciso bay.

God and ideas are all hidden in small things. This simple truth became obvious to me as the world tour I had always only dreamt of; slowly and finally unravelled in my brain today. It all started with a young girl's simple passion and now she is going to make it happen - a full blown emancipation of her adventurous side :)

To make it even more interesting, unless absolutely necessary to compromise (which is a word I hate to use and execute on) I am going to follow some basic rules for all my trips:

1. I will travel by myself and will absolutely not degrade the quality and element of my trip to accomodate disingenuous friends :), some of whom always find the need to pile on!
The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden (1854)

Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.

The Dhammapada

2. I will travel with an open heart and mind, and talk to all kinds of people I run into. Akin to Borat I will aim to find cultural learnings from the different places I visit so that I can apply them to myself! The solitude will definitely help me relax, practice my pilates/running and do some soul stirring to come up with exciting ideas for the next few chapters of personal and professional life.

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

Miriam Beard

3. I will not over plan any trip, will try to appreciate natural and human beauty that comes my way and wherever possible will let my outgoing nature hold my reins so that my alter ego does not throw me on one of those introvert mood swings. Finally, if an opportunity to do good shows me a palm along the way, I will shake my hand passionately and do whatever I can to help someone :)

You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin, and even vagueness - ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

More details on my exact Toyota/747 Diaries (if you will) still to come!

Note to self: Must read Che Guevara's epic journey captured in his book "The Motorcycle Diaries" and watch the movie starring Gael García Bernal again for inspiration!!!