Most of the time people believe that things are better off when in a group, when you have people with you whom you can enjoy with. This is thought to be true for watching a movie, going to a cafe and even randomly sitting down in one place. People believe that if you are not surrounded by people, then you will not be having a good time. I, on the other hand, do not stand by that school of thought at all.
I have done something much bigger than just sitting in a café alone, I have actually traveled to an unknown land all by myself and had more fun than I have ever had surrounded by people. The journey that I made all by myself was to the town of Lonavala for a weekend.
For those of you who haven’t been to Lonavala, it is somewhere most of Mumbai goes on the weekends as it is a train ride away. I boarded the train (fortunately catching it on time) and enjoyed the two hour journey by sitting on the ground and enjoying the view as it passed me by. I had also carried along a book with me, half of which I finished on the train.
By the time I actually reached my hotel room it was mid-afternoon and after freshening up a little bit, I made my way down to the lobby and found out the things to do. The entire evening was spent enjoying the gorgeous panoramic views that could be seen along Tiger Point.
While enjoying my Kala Khatta gola that I had got from the vendor, and trying to keep my belongings safe from the mischievous monkeys, I devised a game to entertain myself. I had to come up with a short story for everyone else that was there at Tiger Point. These stories were basically assumptions about why they were there, where did they work and the works.
The next day, I spent the morning on the terrace of my room, looking at the hills and valleys around me. Before lunch, I headed to the markets and stocked up on chikki and chocolate fudge (which is basically what you are expected to bring back from Lonavala). After lunch, I headed back to the room for a short nap and then made my way to the wax museum.
The wax museum of Lonavala is so entertaining that you can spend hours in there, laughing at the statues and how non-authentic they look. I came up with another game of wondering which two celebrities did that one statue look like a mix off.
Sadly, I had to head back home to my routine life the next day, leaving behind my days of relaxation and fun and self created games. But that’s okay. It’s the memories we make when alone that we can look back at with complete joy as they will never be tainted.
So pack a bag, choose a place that you have never been to before and just go for it! Make sure you have the wonderful company of your imagination, books, conversations with unknown people and…Google.
So the only question that remains is – “Do you Dare to Travel Alone?”
