Life starts with fables, it grows into short stories and it ends up being a fictional movie. We all are a different story, thought our plots cross at times and we meet at a cross-section to again disappear searching for our own ikigai.
I do not know if I have found my ikigai in travel but it has made a very deep impact in my life and its understanding. We were destined to travel the lengths of this worlds as we know it before we decided to settle and turn in into a concrete jungle. I can't say for sure that we have done it for good or not but this is the world that we created for our own.
Some journeys change you forever and for me, A solo trip to Gokarna did that magic. Maybe, Gokarna is mysterious and beautiful but I guess the people I met there had a far deeper impact on my journey then the place.
So, it all started with my urge to travel. But I was tired of all my plans getting cancelled because someone or the other in my circle was not getting leaves. So, I pushed myself against my fears and decided to travel solo. It was late November, I chose Gokarna as my first on the list. While in office, I used to extensively search of things to do in Gokarna, Places to stay in Gokarna and what not!. Finally, I cam across Zostel and booked a bed for myself. I never knew that this would be a start of never ending journeys with backpackers hostels.
Why Gokarna ? I had been there in past and I thought it would be helpful to start with a known place (Yeah!! I was horrified with the idea of travelling solo). As destiny would have it, I packed my bags and was there in the bus stop with obvious cliche in my mind, "Should I board the bus or should I run back home ?". And I am here writing this, So you know my decision and It had made all the difference.
There I was in Gokarna, checking in at zostel and though I had a smile on face, I did not plan on what I was going to do there. I threw my luggage and sat my ass on the bunk provided to me. I sat there for quite a while until I thought to go outside and this was pretty much the scene as the photo shows.
And then, I gathered the courage to go to them and say a simple "Hi". I guess living in this dog kill god era, we have forgotten how powerful simple gestures and words are. We keep worrying about our impression on there so much that we chose not to even convey them. For me, A simple Hi transformed that picture into something like this. We created a vibe and people kept coming to join the vibe.
And within an hour, from me being a solo traveller, we had a group now of solo travellers from around the world. We did not have the many things common but we were all open to differences and that made us all stick together. From "I don't know what will I do in Gokarna" to "OMG! Time is flying away" it all happened in a blink of an eye and it still seem like yesterday. But only now, I have travelled solo to many places and have become much wiser and humane then I was before I travelled solo.
Coming back to Gokarna, since I was the only one with a past history in Gokarna and I also did an extensive research before coming here. I took all of them to a deserted beach called "Nirvana". I have heard for trippier parties happening at this beach but upon reaching there, we couldn't find a thing. We lost hope and wanted to get back but as luck would have it, we missed the last ferry back and were not struck on this island for the night. We started strolling in hope for a restaurant or a hotel but everything was closed and we were lost until a few good men helped us and called a resort owner. We got two tents pitched by the shore and food to eat. It wasn't ideal but we were happy in that moment. It turned out that night gave all of us a little time to gel and as the Sundays emerged, we were now not strangers but a bunch of friends ready to take on the world.
I do not know, if our paths will cross again, but there in Gokarna at that moment in time, they did cross and that memory has become a permanent chapter in the story of my life.
#Go to Gokarna and do Nothing
#MytravelBuddy
