Priya Pathiyan
Deputy Editor
Travel allows us to connect with our inner child in ways we can’t even imagine. Seeing something new for the first time takes us back to the wonderment we felt when we were little and viewing everything with fresh and curious eyes.
Each time we visit a new destination, see a unique perspective, the jaded outlook and world-weariness of adulting gets stripped away, and we are that little child again.
This week’s top pick is a photograph from our piece on the Niagara Falls. The magnificence of a huge cascade of water elicits oohs and aahs from anyone who sees them. But when you get to actually get drenched in the water, go behind the roaring falls to touch the cold stream dropping from above, you feel recklessly alive. It’s like doing something edgy and forbidden and deliciously dangerous. Something that you’d stop an actual child from doing, but which you give yourself license to risk!
Another aspect of keeping one’s inner child alive while travelling is when we can challenge ourselves mentally and physically, doing something that is different from our daily routine. Our exploits of ziplining at Niagara, off-roading in Nagaland, and bungee-jumping in Rishikesh encourage you to do just that.
In fact, my own plan was to jump into my 40th birthday headfirst by hurtling towards the river Ganga at Rishikesh. Sadly, the bungee was closed that day and I didn’t get a chance to fulfill my birthday wish. Well, at least the acute disappointment unleashed my inner child, albeit in a different way.
As the age for what constitutes youth gets increasingly stretched, and what was considered old or middle-aged gets redefined, more and more of us are keeping the adventure alive within our hearts. Hence, it’s not so simple to stereotype travel aspirations today. Not every 60-year-old wants to go on pilgrimage, not every 50-year-old wants to just relax in a resort, not every 40-year-old wants to shop until they drop, not every 30-year-old wants to do a Hangover-style holiday, and not every 20-year-old wants to backpack through Europe.
At the end of the day, it’s not you, but your inner child that decides your next destination!