The art of being a tourist

 

Udaipur

 

I’ve learnt a lot of things by now. Some of those have to do with daily life, though I'll never get to the point where I know more than I don’t know. That never happens does it? Other things though, you get rather good at, and through mistakes, missteps, and general embarrassments, you steadily start to improve. Take for instance my first outfit on my first ever trip to Thailand: wearing jeans and a New Zealand cricket shirt in Patong, Thailand with 35 degree heat and the concrete feeling like its sizzling you. Idiot. Today, I definitely know more than I don’t know in that area: don’t bring jeans to South East Asia.

Andrew (now sadly departed from our travels) said something wise. He said:

 

“travellers thing that have a right to greater insights than does the ‘normal’ population… we’re just on holiday.”

 

Having fallen for this in the past (I am away from the 9 to 5 office job, therefore, I have greater ideas and insights about life than colleagues do, a logical falicy), I now realise there is much sense in what Andrew says, as there usually is. He is, after all a travel veteran of 40+ countries.

I see a lot of guys around India, Udapaiur in particular, and usually Australian, wearing all kinds of Indian getup – garments and robes, bangles, tattoos – all kinds of stuff, and with normally funky looking haircuts and smoking cigarettes somewhat haphazardly. Now back home, they’re probably accountants, sales clarks, bank tellers, engineers, builders, plumbers, public servants, and all kinds of things like that. Here, they are zoned-out, spiritual, enlightened, adopted members of ancient Indian religion, and harmonious brothers with the shopkeeper down the road. They’ll trip out to something in the sanitised ‘backpacker zone’ then go back to the guesthouse and listen to music on their iPods and have a snickers bar. At the same time, they probably think I'm some stuck up guy who won't change from his usual garb.

 

What I’ve learnt from my perception of that situation (which isn’t neccessarily, to say it’s true) is this: when travelling, you can’t pretend to be someoneyou’re not. You can try new things, have wonderful and exciting experiences, meet people who give you a better insight and understanding of the world, and so forth, but at the end of the day, you are still you. You’ll grow, become wiser, broaden your personality, and generally become more interesting. But you won’t be someone you’re not. You’ll still be you. So why settle for an alternative version of yourself, why not just be yourself, and work on improving yourself in whatever way you can.
 

I call this one "The Donkey and the Tree"

 

Okay, enough preaching, here are a few practical things.

If baffles me when people stay they spent one, sometimes even two nights in a particular place (there are exceptions, though). People say ‘I turned up, had a look around, when up to the monument (or other such attraction) and left’. We normally find a better routine is this:

Arrival day – look and explore around day (fort/temple’s also) – activity day (normally optional) – friendships day – …– departure day. That’s anywhere from two to [X] number of days. I find it normally depends on the people you meet. If you arrive in a city, see what there is to see, get bored and lonely, then by all means leave. There is no point sticking around a place that has nothing to offer. But if you arrive, settle in, meet some people, you can really have a good time with them, even though you’ve ‘seen’ all there is too see. It doesn't hurt to stay a few days, even if you aren't doing much.

 

Sometimes, you find some real gems that you didn’t know where there. The three of us were in our third of fourth day in Udaipur, which we were enjoying a great deal. We ‘found’ a really big mountain, walked up it, climbed over some barriers (not security guarded for once), and managed to find the highest point in Udaipur, giving us a panoramic view of the city. It was really something. 

 

It is also wonderful when you get into something of a habit. For instance: wake up, go see omelette man; go see lassi man; go see chai tea man; go sleep; play cricket; go to dinner; go to omelette man; go to lassi man; go to bed.

 

I think also, it’s important to realise that you are on a break, on a holiday. It’s not supposed to be full on, 100% all the time, filling in all the Facebook photos that you’re expected to do. Nah, if the time allows, just spend a day (or more) chilling out, enjoying the sun, and reading a good book.

 If you’re on a long stint, like the almighty beak-dipper and I, it’s best to pace yourself. We’ll get bored just ‘walking around’ all day looking at things, so take time to do normal things like read the paper, floss your teeth, read the Financial Times, walk to the ‘dairy’, stare out the window, and all manner of things like that. You’ll get burn-out otherwise.

 

 

Eating a variety of things at a range of places is important too. Many people say that, by virtue of being away, you must eat ‘street’ food, or ‘local’ food. This is true – you must. However, this is far from saying you must eat it all the time. Not only will that too become tiresome, but you will miss out on many other exotic tastes elsewhere. My experience with food is not to sweat it (sorry Yobin) – eat where you want, when you want, and get as much variety that you can. It’s okay to get a pizza from an Italian restaurant, and it’s okay to order a butter chicken from an upscale Indian restaurant full of other tourists. It’s just as okay to eat at a street cart with a handful of Indians. Anything goes – eat what you want.

 

 

One other thing – the language barrier in India can make things difficult. Most speak no English, so communicating over any matter of things can be difficult. It’s wise to just say a single word and make sure that’s understood before continuing on. For instance, you might just say ‘hotel’ instead of ‘can we please go to our hotel.’ It gets hard when you’re in a more pressurised situation (say, trying to legitimately get yourself onto a train by a certain time) and when you speak English to them, there’s a flurry of Indian  conversation between five different people, and then someone finally comes back to you. Difficult, but not impossible – and always improving. 

 

 

Most people everyway are pretty friendly and approachable, and are usually in exactly the same boat as you (tourists, that is). It’s easy to say hello, if you just do it. I really like most people I come across, no matter where they are from.

Andrew is right. Travelling is not about ‘finding yourself’ or seeker ‘greater meaning’ (though there may be exceptions, and perhaps finding religion through travel is a legitimate by product). or having the right to some psychedelic superiority to the general population. Travelling is about having some of the best experiences of your life, meeting great and wonderful people, learning about the world and people from other cultures, and perhaps for some, growing to become a better person. It’s also about having a break from your profession and the rigours of your job, recharging the batteries, spending time with loved ones, and doing the everyday things that normally you don’t have time to do.

 

 

 

 

So maybe, as a traveller, I have learnt a bit more, but I still think I don’t know more than I don’t know; so I’ll guess I’ll just have to keep travelling until I do.