It’s a small world (to travel) after all

Dear friends,

As the year ends, travel and why I love it so, stand out most. Travel never fails to bring freshness, inspiration, and magnanimity to life—it uniformly uplifts the soul. I doggedly pursue world travel, despite the many menacing challenges of food intolerances, also known as finding the right thing to eat at the right time. It is still worth every heartbeat to jet-set across continents because each trip outside of home cements two core beliefs. First, the world is a really small place, and we are way more alike than different. Sure, we speak different languages, eat different foods, and follow different ways of life, but at the end of the day, we all seek love and a good time in life. It helps to affirm that fact from time to time and empathize with our fellow humans, especially during these divisive times. Second, it is important children travel the world. It expands their world view, teaches them a thing or two about diversity, and makes them more tolerant citizens of the world.

I’d say, the bonding with our planet-mates via travel is quintessential to maintaining peace and equanimity in the world.

Yes, the world is a small place.

The world felt like a small place just this February, when we hiked up the snowcapped High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. We had 10 people from 5 countries listening to Bollywood singer Arijit Singh croon love melodies picked by our local Amazigh guide, Youness. And thanks to him, I came back addicted to the Moroccan pop number, Haddidi, I love you.

This was the jolly and melodious ride back down to Imlil valley (unfortunately, the epicenter of the earthquake that struck a few months back) after a trek up in the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains with our guide, Youness, as the DJ for the day.

The world felt like a small place a bleak winter day in February, when the kind Parisian cab driver took a risk parce que vous êtes une jeune qui parle très bien ma langue! (because you are a young girl who speaks my language very well!). Despite the public transportation strike, he drove us at full throttle to the Charles de Gaulle airport so we could catch our flight back to the U.S. on time. We both shared fear—him at being stoned by fellow strikers for driving his cab despite the ban on public transportation, and me at missing our flight back home. Yet, he went above and beyond as only a kindred spirit would.

Deutschland felt like a step away from India when the owner of a small hole-in-the-wall dhaba in Bad Tölz woke up his wife from her afternoon slumber to prepare fresh (and extra spicy) parathas and rajma for us travelers. They were plain excited at the rare sighting of an Asian couple in this part of Bavaria. We craved a home-cooked Indian meal as much as they longed for some desi company after being away from their native village in Punjab for a few years.

Bad Tölz is a historic medieval town located in the region of Bavaria, Germany, and is known for its spas and picturesque views of the Alps. I ate the best pasta ever—back in the day when I could eat anything—simple spinach tagliani with asparagus, capers, black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil, over a dinner date with myself watching the river Isar quitely flow by.

Travel like The Little Prince

Travel, in spirit, is much like these words spoken by the fox to the Little Prince in French author Antoine de St. Exupéry’s namesake novella. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Travel demystifies the unknown and makes you see the world and its people, rightfully so, with a compassionate heart. They are after all, no different than you in most instances, you realize. You “see” things in books and on the TV. But it’s another ball game to actually be there in person and experience them.

On one of our annual visits to India, when our son was just 5 or 6 years old, he saw a beggar tap on our car window as the vehicle made its way through the crowded slums of Dharavi in Mumbai. My son looked stricken seeing the shabbily dressed mom with unkempt hair nestling an infant in her arms and asking for money—a heartbreaking picture that moves you each time it happens,  even to someone like me who grew up in India.

He turned to me and asked, “Mamma, why doesn’t she just use her ATM card and withdraw money from the Bank? Why is she asking us for money?”.

I was confounded and did not even know where to begin. I said, “Sahil, she does not have an ATM card. Nor does she have a Bank account, because she has no money. That’s why she is begging.” “No money?! How’s that even possible?!” he howled. “Everyone has money.” Not really, child, I thought. That was his hands-on introduction to poverty at age 6 and it stuck. I don’t know how these travels will play into his conscience as an adult, but I hope it fills his heart with compassion to last a lifetime.

Travel unveils magic

And then, there’s the pure wonder of stumbling upon places you have only ever read about in books, thousands of miles away from home, to affirm that yes, they do exist within the finite space of our planet earth. It’s a small world, after all.

Greece was like opening a never-ending gift of ancient wonders.

Imagine walking on the same ground as the Athenians and the Persian forces of Darius I during the famous battle of Marathon of 490 BC! And then to realize that the town still hosts this annual marathon—more than 2,000 years in the running—each November was surreal.

Here’s the Tumulus of the Athenians in the town of Marathon, Greece, where the 490 BC Battle of Marathon took place. It holds the ashes of the 192 Athenians who fell during the battle.

Statue of the Athenian general, Miltiades, who defeated the invading Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. He was the father of Cimon, the noted Athenian statesman who became famous after the naval Battle of Salamis.

Walking the same grounds that birthed Plato’s Academy was a religious experience. Although, the marble bust and a well-curated digital museum randomly tucked away in a makeshift wooden structure—almost in happenstance— amidst regular apartment complexes, grocery stores, and even high school kids playing ball around the statue did little to justify the philosopher’s tremendous influence in Ancient Greece and across the world. Here’s a YouTube short from my 12-year old that shows the video of the area.

Wrath of the Greek gods? An apocalypse to come? Or nature’s expression of sensuality? The earth seemed on fire at sunset in Santorini, Greece—truly, heaven on earth.

You simply cannot take a bad picture in Santorini. Nature is dressed to the hilt even without trying.

Memories like these are like a fuzzy blanket that warm up your soul for perpetuity as distances—both physical and mental—shrink with travel, bringing the world within your reach. My favorite travel story of all times reads more like a series of unfortunate events that fortunately turned good. One clue—it happened in Prague, traveling east to the border of Poland for a wedding. I’ll save it for next week, so stay tuned!

In the meanwhile, here’s to more globetrotting in 2024 and more inter-connectedness between you, me, and us humans. Do share your thoughts on travel—what do you like or dislike about it? Do you, like me, feel closer to humankind when you travel?

Meaningfully yours,
Anu Prabhala