'Solo Travel ' for The 'Soul' Searching !!!

 

There is a discussion going on in our travel fraternity and rightly so….. Are we travelling once Covid19 is over? Is this virus  Covid19 really staying with us for long ?? Or Given an urgent situation how we will we make our guests travel during the Covid19 pandemic ?  Is our guidance fair enough for our guests - how to protect themselves while travelling ? The questions and worries are unending…..till the ‘genuine’ vaccine arrives !!!

Some of those who could afford, the  influential and courageous ones,  have already ventured out with their families to the nearest tourist destinations on their own, equipped with thermal guns, face masks and oxi meter. It’s an encouraging  sign !!! They do not want to curb their desire to travel.....They do not want to be the cause of infecting the locals at the destination or in turn get infected. Precaution is the keyword !!!

It’s a great feeling of being in the nature. To be honest with you all, I have been craving during the lock down period to at least visit the nearest park.  I settled for my bicycle instead. Whenever I feel, I go for a short round of three or four km. Its exhilarating for sure. Few days back  I had bicycled to  Sonegao – the erstwhile Bhonsla’s place,  now an ignored heritage site, to give an online talk on the alternative tourism options. 

The sole bicycle tourism can be an effective way of discovering the hidden gems of the city.  One can go on his own on a bicycle  and there is a likelihood  that he would end up discovering himself. Further the like minded persons can form a cyclists club of visiting and exploring heritage sites in the city.

Since college days and later during professional career, I always was a part of the group of friends. We would party, go for movies, stroll in the market, go picnic, many times would go for an excursion on our bikes….In short, I had a fair share of  group activities and travel.

But there were occasions when I preferred the ‘Me Time’. I would go alone for biking. Sitting alone at Sonegao lake was my favorite time pass. Reading novel at home was another activity. There were two Hindi movies which I had seen all alone – ‘Kachche Dhagey’ and ‘Ram -Lakhan’  and had to face the brunt of my friends.  There were occasions when I had to visit on my bike for meeting a client at Wardha or Amravati. I have lost the count of my visits to the local spot Ramtek during Monsoons.

This brings me to an important aspect of sole travelling I had to do because of professional reasons. I think this was a slow buildup of preparing myself for the ‘Lone Travels’ which itself was a self-discovery  of observing and meeting people.

I had joined a leading multinational travel company for which I had to be stationed at Bhilai and later at Chandrapur. The travel to these places was by train or by bus. During train journeys between Nagpur and Bhilai, I preferred travelling second class sleeper as I loved to observe people while travelling. Later, when I went to Chandrapur the travel was more enjoyable by the state transport buses, observing rural people closely. During my tenure of four years especially some conductors had become familiar as they could identify me occupying the last corner seat on the bus.

I would like to share an incidence here. During one such return journey from Chandrapur to Nagpur,  our bus broke down during night. The driver got down and was busy looking for the cause. The conductor helped the passengers to board another bus. Somehow I did not board another bus.  As the driver was not able to hold his torch, I helped him with my cell torch and stayed with him. Within  an hour the problem was solved. Now only we three were on the bus. We had a scheduled stop at Jam where the conductor offered me tea which I accepted  with pleasure.

The Hindi movies which I enjoyed during the 'Me Time' at Chandrapur were 'Piku', 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns', 'Dum Laga ke Haisha' and 'PK'. 

Once I had to stay on a Sunday for an evening function at Chandrapur. I utilized the morning time by booking an affordable small bus safari to Tadoba . The bus would commence its journey for the local forest office at Mul Road, Chandrapur office and come back by 12 noon. Again I was occupying the last corner seat. My fellow passengers  were families with kids and many of them had come for their first jungle safari. From the word go, many of them were speaking loudly on the bus. The driver had to request them twice or thrice. Later, at

the Mohorli gate, the guide joined us  Once we entered through the gate the actual fun began. The kids on the bus were ecstatic seeing the Spotted deer around. The bus is not an ideal form of going on safari in the jungle but this is what you get for the low cost hence no complaints.

During the safari one elderly person requested the driver and the guide to stop so that he could urinate. I could see the driver was irritated but did not show on his face. He requested them that there will be a break during the safari where you can relax. The person was frowning and started quarreling. I had to cajole that person and explain him that this was  a jungle and there were certain rules to follow. A good example of how our people are not sensitized about the jungles.

Some of the guests on the bus were disappointed as they were expecting to see the tiger. As I had prepared myself  to enjoy the jungle only, I was the happiest person on the bus. This was one of the ‘Solo Travel’ experiences at Tadoba. 

I had already been on safari here and was fortunate enough to observe the pack of ‘Dholes’ or wild dogs with my guests. The earlier safari had our naturalist friend accompanying us which made the safari enjoyable. I could feel the jungle liven up because of his company as he could explain the trees, the

bushes, the herbivores and the carnivores. The jungle had much more to offer besides the tigers he said. He was also well versed with avian species ( birds) which made the safari even better.

There are many persons who go for the jungle safari but come back complaining they could find nothing. It was a bore thing and blame the guides who accompany on the safari gypsies for not showing them the tigers. Actually the guides are the local people staying along the villages outside the  jungles. I have observed that the forest department tries to train and update these guides. They try their best to explain but are helpless when the tiger-centric tourists board the gypsies.

Another ‘Solo trip’ was by Kerala express from Nagpur to Ernakulum, a good 29 hours journey. It was my first visit to the Kerala Travel Mart. Again I was on the second class sleeper. The landscape changes as you enter the Telangana state.  The south bound trains generally have fellow passengers who rarely speak Hindi. If they do not understand English then only the  fun begins. You have to rely on the sign language or gestures to communicate. When the train reached Tirupati at night a group of pilgrims boarded and there was lot of chaos around. But no complaints, I was prepared for such adversities. Early morning they  de-boarded at Coimbatore.

Again the landscape changed once the train entered Kerala state. I observed that the people of Kerala were ready to communicate in English and Hindi equally. Once you are tourism oriented and you are ready to welcome tourists from all over India, the Hindi communication gives you weightage. Throughout KTM I was impressed with various stakeholders communicating in Hindi with their North Indian friends. The hotel where I was staying also had Travel Professionals coming from all over India. We all went by the same bus, saw various presentations, visited stalls, enjoyed back water boat ride, established new contacts and in return enjoyed the hospitality. 

Though I was alone, I won’t call this as Solo Travel as once our groups were formed for the FAM trip to Wayanad, we all were a family during our two night stay. Still we are in touch through the Whatsapp group created during the tour. The journey which started as a Sole trip ended with lot of memories and stories to share.

Another ‘SoleoTravel’ was my first international travel as a Tour Manager. I was to join the group which was departed on Air India and my flight was to reach Singapore via Colombo  on Srilankan Airlines. Both the flights were arriving in the morning half an hour apart. This had to be a memorable one as I was exposed to the international travel for the first time. There was a short layover at Colombo and then I had to board another bigger flight to Singapore. Once it landed at Singapore, the terminal was different and the guests on Air India arrived at another terminal.

 It was a fabulous experience as  the  signs at Changi airport were helpful enough for me to reach another terminal in a very short time and  greet them. There was another family coming from Hyderabad on Air India and again it was on different terminal. Once seeing off the guests with the local guide, I stayed back. Boarded the inter terminal train and reached there. I had around three hours to wait for them so utilized this time to freshnup and have a look at the beautiful Changi Airport, a destination in itself. I made it a point to see the waterfall inside the airport. An ideal place to have selfies.

Later the family arrived and I went by another vehicle to join the group at Singapore Flyer. This trip was memorable as I had to manage back to back groups. Later, after completing my task, the return journey was again a Sole trip back to Mumbai via Colombo.

There are lots of positive takeaways for me from these journeys. It definitely makes you more confident. It empowers you to take things under control.

During the pandemic or later, the Solo Travel will change as one would need to be more cautious with social distancing, wearing masks and use of sanitizers as well as to pre check the hotel where the norms of proper sanitization and hygiene are strictly followed.  The sightseeing, food and the transfers, boarding local trains or buses shall also need caution on the part of the traveler.

Strongly recommended for he or she to go and venture out and do some ‘Soul Searching’ through ‘Solo Travel’.

 

Amit Naseri

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