When you read the stories about
Jonathan Dunham,
Georgia Getz or
Andy, you really need to think hard to answer the question, How do you categorize these people? Are they insane, foolish or are they just living life to the fullest?
Jonathan quits his job and decides to find the
meaning of life by walking the earth!! and if thats not good enough reason to classify him as a "HIGHLY INSANE" consider this..he has a found a partner in Judas to accompany him in his journey, all sounds fine until you find out that Judas is a Donkey, yeah a
Equus asinus.
Georgia's story sounds a bit more sane...she bid good bye to her family for five weeks in a sponsored hybrid car
to "date", 250 bloggers across 182 cities in 42 states, if thats not crazy enough, she says more are being added every day.
Andy quit his job with probably one of the best company in the IT industry and decided to travel the world for a year.
So whats with these people? What drives them to renounce the safety and comfort of their job, family, house and depart from known surroundings to explore the unknown, encounter new people and places? Is there a purpose or a motive behind such travels? What do they or what have they achieved out of it so far?
Well I don't have any such first hand experience, so its difficult to pin point the factors of motivation for them, but personally be it trekking the barren desert land of Leh or Ruins of Hampi or the thick forests of Munnar etc.. one thing that keeps driving you is the possibility of uncertain outcomes. You never know what you will encounter next. Will it be breath taking view of Leh's frozen mountains or exquisite carving of temples or herd of wild elephants in Shola forests, you never know and probably this expectation of the unexpected keeps you going.
Be it the physically taxing ascent of brahmagiri peak or spending the night in the nerve chilling cold of Bharathpur, the reason you do it is probably because these circumstances challenge you be it physical, emotional or intellectual and probably its the adrenaline rush which you experience when you overcome these keeps you going.
After coming back from the Leh trek, I was wondering what were we thinking to cycle all the way to the Kardung La pass(Worlds highest motorable pass)(we could go only half the distance)...It was probably just to experience that "at the peak" experience, that was the reward for which we were ready to tax our plump body, ready to push ourselves beyond the edge, so to say. Probably its the same with those guys..just to experience that "at the peak" moment they keep going.
Leisure stroll of the Hampi ruins was not "adventurous", but enjoyed every moment of it. But why? Probably because I was experiencing something new, new place, new food, new people, new culture and thats what simulates the excitement and a will to carry on. It should be the same with them. Exploring new place and new culture.
Another reason I loved the trip to Hampi was probably the boring, dull,slow routine that life had become(not that its any different now) . Job-home-job and the eternal cycle continues and this trip helped to break and escape that shackles. I guess it might be the same for them. Shed the dull,boring life and grow a new life.
What ever it is thats motivated them, one thing is sure, I seriously envy them. From the bottom of my heart. Life gets entangled in the web of EMI's, SIP's, Job's, family commitments etc so much that you start to believe that this is all there is to life. But then when you read stories like these only then you realize how much of a "
Matrix" world you are in subdued by the
Blue pills which we ourselves swallow or are forced by the society to swallow. But then these guys have swallowed the
Red pill to see probably the real life. Both living same life, same existence, but they are living life, zara hat ke.
Labels: adventure, inspiration, life, Travel
