Out travelling, virtually

Time was when it was called armchair travel but the concept is the same. If for some reason, you can’t actually go to places you wish to visit, you wait and latch on to a close family member or friend who is venturing there. I mean ‘latch on’ virtually. Let me explain.

Travel was always my greatest delight and even a bit of an obsession but in recent times circumstances have made me look at alternative ways to go places and see things. Mind you I don’t regret the change. From what I hear of airports or railway stations or even bus terminals nowadays, I marvel that I set foot  there at all. But this frame of mind is not shared by near and dear ones. They are ready to brave the stresses and strains of visa applications and interviews, the hassle of shopping and packing, the midnight departures,  all for the ability to say  ‘been there, done that’?

But supposing I say that I too have experienced all that they have? How is that possible, you ask? The key words are ‘virtual reality.’ As my brother prepared to take the plunge into the icy waters of the Antarctic Ocean, I too held my breath and felt the shock of the impact. But not for me the aftermath of peeling off my dripping and cold suit with chattering teeth shivering. An unforgettable experience. Next stop: one of the driest places on earth - the Atacama Desert.

I sipped happily at my cool drink as I sat in my rocking chair and
imagined the bone-dryness of that desert in Chile.

The critics among you may say that unlike reality, I can’t choose where I want to go but fortunately I have close family and friends who serendipitously go to places I long to visit. Take Samarkand for instance. “The Golden Road to Samarkand” was a poem which had stirred my imagination as a teenager and when a family member shared he was headed there, out came my old atlas to pinpoint the exact location. There I was in Samarkand, mesmerised by  the sight of  mosques and  minarets bathed in the mysterious  half light of dusk.

Back to India and another nugget from my school geography text book sprang to mind when family said they were going to Cherrapunji – the world’s most rained-on town! Even though that record has now been beaten by Mawsynram, also in Meghalaya, nothing will take away the sound and image of that place.

Where on earth will I go next?

What’s that? An invitation to go to Kolar for half a day? I’m ready. Out of my armchair and into the real world at last. What happiness!