My realisations about life while on a trek to Rasol from Chalal

At the tender age of your early life, things were different. People showering love for no specific reason (mostly) and you were happy. As things started making more sense, the grasp of reality and the ugly truth of our world settled in our brains. It did in my mind too and I was eagerly waiting to explore the vast reality that we live in.

In the age where every action demands quick thinking and hustle, we tend to forget the importance of slowing down. So I made slowing down a priority after working at desk jobs and not finding the right fit for me. I started travelling to reflect on what I have learnt as a child. This did wonders for me, travelling opens the mind like nothing else. But, beware before this seems all fancy with the new perspective that you gain.

It’s been almost 2 years now that I quit me desk job to work as a freelancer and travel. And this decision changed my life. Well, I could have easily settled in for a full time job, but after a couple of years you are just working like a robot on orders. In this age where AI really is interactive with humans on another level, should we limit our humanness to being a malfunctioning robot by the mid thirties? Life is fucking short, I have seen it up close and now death is something I remind myself of every single day. It’s the truth no one can hide from. Instead, if you realise what it is to be alive and how it could all be the end when you die, there is more value to every single breath we take.

The past 2 years have not been easy, neither has it been hard. As a freelancer, waiting for client payments for months is something that alters my personal commitments and travels. But I am learning to adapt and flow along the course of life. And everything happening around you, all the things that don’t work and the things that do, it all happens for you to be at the right place you deserve to be at. Acceptance of this reality that things are right just the way they are is hard. Because you have to understand the fact that you are very small compared to the capacity and capabilities of the universe and the source of our higher self.

And travel does exactly this, it helps you digest the reality when you experience what little power you have over nature, life and the universe. So things go wrong in our lives at times and it all doesn’t make sense in that moment. But if you just trust the process and surrender to life, you learn to live life to the fullest. It’s the internal happiness that counts and that can be from anything that truly makes you happy. Be it buying an expensive Tesla to drive your family around or even giving some chocolates to a random kid, any way you define happiness. But it has to genuinely make you happy and for a long time. Temporary or materialistic happinesses fades away faster than catching a cold in the rain.

So, like I said earlier, beware before you think travelling is all fancy. Yes it is fancy but not as much as Instagram portrays it to be. It can be hectic at times but it is worth taking a shot if you really want your passion for travelling to be a reality. With all my solo travels, all that I have learnt is that our lives in the cities are convenient and greed has overtaken the essence of living as a human. Back in the mountains people live a hard life. I mean, buying grocery is so easy in the cities, you go to a shop get it or order it online and it’s delivered. Some places in the mountains don’t have road access and at times the lack of infrastructure limits the use of electricity and machinery to get goods high up in the mountains. I have seen people in Himachal carrying supplies weighing 30 - 40kg by men on their backs for more than 10kms. Things we take for granted in the cities can be a luxury for some.

This has made me respect every convenience life gives us. And there much gratitude for all such things we ignore daily. Now I have really learnt to be greatful for even the smallest of things like walking and having the energy to do everything I can possibly dream of.