The Wonder Years

Strange thing is travel! i mean extensive travel...It puts things in perspective. Just travel for the heck of it. Initially one looks for comfort..Nice place to stay, nice food, good entertainment. Then one gets used to it. Then one starts looking for exhiliratio: damn good party, night outs, movie marathon. Then thats over too.

Then it strikes you. Something is missing. Aah,and that is the huge comfort of daily life at home sweet home. No, you cannot just plop down at your home and declare to people that you had a loong tiring day. Strangely, family listens to your every word..You come back to an empty house where there is no one to listen to your own self pitying BS. Its not only that, you have now got to prepare your own food. Its not a fancy event where there is a proud mother behind to say, 'Damn good beta' an you can conveniently eat what she cooked just for a backup. Here, you got to eat it too.

Amid all this, things start taking shape too. In your head that is. It is not necessary for all, for some the mumbo jumbo of staying alone does give exhilirating glee for days on end. But then, people have heard of psychiatric cases where things explode one fine day.

Anyway, you realise the economy of your actions, time, money, others time. And you realise what you really want in life. You strangely realise what you really want in life. It all seems clear . Home, family and friends get an all new meaning.

A thank you from a stranger now seems meaningful, helping someone stranded in a new city seems most logical, giving money to somebody who genuinely seems to have forgotten her wallet doesn't seem suspicious, people in city with a genuine language problem is NOT FUNNY, finding some one to trust in a new place gets a new meaning, finding a decent place to jog is well lucky, finding a place where you can feel closest to home is priceless!! Cos you have been there and done that.

Now it does not all mean that one becomes St. Patrick with a halo on the head and holy water in your hand. Far from it. But you do realise the limits of your vagabond life. You strangely appreciate it and moreover get used to it. Somehow that is the bigger learning than anything that you pick up...