How my mom inspired my travel life?

Before I start let me tell you about myself. I am an engineer who is in a 9-6 job. But people who know me better, know that I have crazy love for travelling. But no one knows how this travelling sparked in me. Here I am to tell the culprit behind all my travels- My MOM. She has enormous love for travelling. She was the first person to expose me to travel. She was the one who taught me to step outside from the boundaries of mundane life. I am fortunate that I belong to a family that loves travelling. My parents are travelling since before travelling was not so common. My 1st travel was when I was 3months old, we went to Nepal. Can you imagine travelling with a small baby in an era where we cant do pre-booking of hotels or taxis. Going to a new country, my mom was all set for an adventure. My mom has immense love for travelling and my dad was the best companion to her as he made sure to take the family wherever she wanted.

My travelling journey starts when I was 3month and it was not my choice since then. Growing up I remember every year she takes all 3 (me and my other 2 siblings) of us somewhere in our summer or winter vacation. She well planned the trips before and if somehow we could not afford a long vacation that year my parents use to take us to nearby cities where my grandparents or my aunts stay. She will take us for a 1-day trip. Today's so-called WEEKEND GATEWAYS, we were doing it from the 90s without any internet and google. My parents made travel possible every year big or small. My one-day trip or weekend gateways are inspired by my mom whenever I am short of time or money.

Here are some of my experiences are inspired by her-

1. Learn the history of a place

Since my childhood, I have seen her taking guide assistant or talking to locals about the place and culture. She has a good collection of local guide books which eventually became my collection. She always said every place has a story and this used to fascinate me hearing all the stories of the kings and the locals. Even today before I travel I collect all the information, history about the place. When you know the background of the place, architecture, etc..you will admire and notice every minute detail of that location. This makes each place more interesting.

2. Collecting Souvenir

My mom always used to buy memento whichever city she visited. I never understood as a kid the importance. But now I know each souvenir she brought, she brought memories back home. These are the tokens of an experience we had as a family. When we are together at home, each time we see these souvenirs we talk about the trip we had. It's her habit which became my passion to collect souvenirs.

3. Posing in front of Camera

As a kid, I never knew what to do in front of a camera. I was always confused. She always asks us to smile or give different poses. Maybe that is the reason why I keep smiling in all my pictures now. During the 90s we have these reel cameras and you get only 1 chance for a perfect click. Now with these mobile and cameras, we could see the picture instant and we can click 100 of them. But before we had the excitement to get the negatives turned into real pictures. We never knew that moment how our picture is clicked till we see the photographs in our hands. My mom has kept all our travel albums safely. Whenever we browsed through old photographs it just did not bring memories of those places but bring so many stories, adventures we had.

4. Shopping

My mom shop everywhere she travelled. She used to prepare space in her luggage before we head on vacation, As she knew she would get stuff from there. You learn about the culture by buying local clothing or jewelry. Travelling is just not about the scenic view but the experience of their culture enrich your mind and soul. And I am following in her footsteps.

5. Trying new Cuisine

She is fond of trying new things. She always wants to know about the culture, people and food. My parents always inquire from locals what is special culinary of that place. We used to try new dishes and sometimes it would turn to be a disaster but mostly it was delectable. I am going down the same road. I always gather info. about the history, culture, and local cuisine of the place before I travel.

6. Being an adventurer

My first adventure was encouraged and funded by my mom - Paragliding. We went to Pune and in Mahabaleshwar there was a paragliding camp. I was scared and hesitant but she gave me the confidence to at least give it a try. This incident opened up my adventurous side. After that, I went Snorkeling, Skydiving, river rafting and there is no stopping after that.

7. Spiritualism

As a kid, I did not enjoy going to temples. But my parents were fond of pilgrimage. They used to often visit these pilgrims like Vaishno Devi, Tirupathi, and many more. These places were to meet your spirituality on these Pad Yatra. Now in this new era, these are like trekking or Hiking. I always use to look forward to going to Vaishno Devi as I loved to trek to the temple. Actually this made me fall in love with trekking. I wasn't aware and slowly I started believing in Spirituality. Being in India we are privileged to find many ideal destinations for a spiritual experience. It just does not clean your mind but your soul too.

8. Time to spend with Family

My dad always was busy with his work schedule. On vacation, we as a family have 24x7 together to cherish each moment and create hundreds of memories, and have a great bonding experience. Travelling brings happiness, memories. As a child, I was enriched with different cultures, new experiences and also made me adaptive. My parents have been my best travel companion. Now my husband has joined our pack.

I have got hundreds of learnings from travel and irreplaceable memories. The travel excites and inspires me and this happened because of my mom's desire to travel. She is in her 50's and still travelling. My parents keep surprising people when they planned the Paris trip, my mom is in 50's and my dad is in 60's. Once again I learned from her You are never too old and it's never too late to travel anywhere in this world.