This Quote by Robert Louis Stevenson sums it all, “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” So if you have decided that you are going to be a repeat offender at this then you might want to make a bigger bucket-list and include many of these. It is a wonderful idea to have a mixed bag of different activities each time you go to a different place. Be it a long trek or spending time with a family you’ve just met in a foreign place. It will have to be memorable enough to turn you into a storyteller. Here we go with the 10 Must-have Goals for a Traveler out of so many.
1. Getting lost during your travels
The world is a big big place for a puny human. You can get lost in the tiniest of cities. All you need to do is wake up in the morning, leave your maps and phones behind and take a random bus ride to somewhere where there aren’t many people. Now you can walk your way out of this. The experience will no doubt help you uncover surprises, get to know the locals, and find confidence in your abilities. Just keep your wits about you and you’ll have the time of your life.
2. Live Like a Local
A traveler only gets to know a fraction of the new place. So make a random extension where you fancy. Live like the locals, eat what they eat, go where they go and enjoy what they love, till it becomes a habit and you start understanding the little things, people’s emotions and issues.
3. Visit All Seven Continents
The world is divided into seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Some are easier than others to reach, of course—darn you, Antarctica! But visiting all seven certainly can be done in a lifetime. Time for a new stamp in your passport.
4. Camp in the wilderness
You don’t have to go very far for this. Just find the nearest forest but if you can do it in a National Park you get an area that is especially protected for its natural magnificence be it the animals or geo features. You can just set up camp, have a cookout, and stargaze—no need to scale mountains if that’s not your thing.
5. Trek to the Base Camp of a top mountain
Getting to a base camp often requires traversing medium to difficult trekking routes and extreme cold but if you are up for it, the end result is a chest full of satisfaction and some magnificent views. If you go to Nepal (because it has many of the world’s top mountains) then you get to stay in villages set against soaring, jagged pinnacles; get to know the unique culture of the Sherpas; and walk trails lined with mani stones (rocks inscribed with the six syllabled mantra of Tibetan Buddhism).
6. Take a long trip by train
Train travel is also a great way to unwind if you’ve had an exhaustive trip thus far—and it allows you to go directly from small town to small town, something commercial air travel can’t compete with. Try the Trans-Siberian, Moscow to Vladivostok (Russia) train journey which is more than 5000 miles and takes six day to complete. On the other side of the globe, Vivek Express: Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari (India) is a 4 days and 2600 miles of adventure.
7. Pick up the religion of the place you go, for a week
Did you know there are more than a dozen religions in this world ? In general they all give us “the belief in spiritual beings”. It is truly a different experience to stay with the monks in Thailand or go to the Arab mosques. Not just that but going a step further and following their rituals and daily routine will give us a sense of what their “order of existence” really is.
8. Learn a new language and try it out in a country where it is spoken
Many people are intimidated by new languages because they think it will be too hard and they don’t want to be embarrassed by mistakes. But you don’t have to be able to discuss philosophy in a foreign tongue, you just have to know enough to be useful. It will open doors to entirely new worlds. Imagine learning to speak good Japanese just before you get there.
9. See the Wonders of the World
All of these structures are from different countries and built at different times. Now here is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be close to history, art and culture in a grand scale. New wonders of the world have changed recently but here are 7 anyway:
- Taj Mahal, Agra, India
- Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico
- Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Colosseum, Rome, Italy
- Great Wall of China, China
- Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Perú
- Petra, Jordan
10. See the wild life of Namibia, Zimbabwe or South Africa
Namibia has a quarter of the world’s cheetahs and the last free-ranging population of black rhino. Zimbabwe has Victoria Falls and many National Parks to go on a safari. South Africa has Kruger National Park where live Africa’s Big Five : Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard and Buffalo.