Into the wild
By Sarah Nafisa Shahid
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - Saint Augustine of Hippo
As humans we are naturally curious and travelling helps to find the diversity that satisfies the need. And when we are young, which is probably right now for RS readers, getting out and seeing the world can be a life changing experience.
Why make the effort to travel?
Alif thinks it is rather essential to start travelling independently when you're 16 or over because it trains us to face the world with more courage. With every new challenge comes an entirely new discovery, like how Anisha discovered herself when she went to Egypt with her friends. She says, “It made me realise that there are still people, in this world, who don't live to take pictures for a Facebook album and that I don't have to be superficial to be socially acceptable.” Sakib on the other hand believes that people are curious to a certain level and at a young age, they can actively travel and find out more about the place and culture and learn along with their experience.
How to make the pack?
Pack as in a wolf-pack. Travelling with the right type of people and the right amount of people is important. Even though it's hard to arrange things with your friends, one or two trips with them, is advisable because travelling with family usually ends with people enjoying the hotel rather than the place of visit. But if you click better with your family, then who cares, get started. Our mystery RS contributor, The Kopite, advises some alone time during travels because it gives an individual room for a fresh perception. Sometimes this could even result in a realisation of frivolity of the things we worry about. Noyon suggests that socialising with the local people rather than hiring tour guides will let one be travellers rather than tourists and let people discover a place for what it is rather than what the tourism ministry wants to show.
But I'm so broke!
One of the drawbacks of being young and wild is that most of the times, your wallet will be empty. But if you're really determined, then some careful budgeting can help you avert the problem.
An easy start up capital is Eid and birthday money. Instead of spending it on a flashy smart phone, save up for a small trip around Bangladesh. Trust me – the experience is worth not having the latest in tech.
Full-time jobs are not all that feasible for us but we all have opportunities to be small time earners. Be it tutoring or working as an almost unpaid writer at RS, there are income sources out there. And with patience, and the right amount of kiptami, you will end up with a handsome Tk. 25,000 to Tk. 50,000 in a year, depending on your saving.
So, where can I go?
To be honest, travelling really doesn't cost much. An estimated Tk. 9,000-Tk.12,000 will enable you to explore tea estates up in Sylhet and with a budget of Tk. 15000- Tk. 25,000 you can get a good package to Kuakata, St. Martin's or Rangamati. By good, I mean really good with clean accommodations and safe transportation, all in a year's saving. And if you have friends' dads who own great places around the country, then you're in luck. If you want to stretch it more, a week long tour to Nepal will cost only about Tk. 45,000 (plane fare not accounted for) which isn't much if your yearly earning falls closer to the Tk. 50,000 range.
There are trips which can be made in even cheaper budgets if you're involved with any club or organisation who arrange cost efficient tours. Educational tours through schools are a great way to get to visit a place with friends. If your school isn't fond of week long field trips, then you could try education packages that are offered by many travel agencies.
River cruises can also be relaxing and may cost you around Tk. 12,000 if travelling in small groups. Then again, young people don't sleep much anyway, even if a good night's sleep is essential for an energetic travel experience.
Sometimes, society can seem a little harsh on us, stressing our schedules for an endless search for a life of security. That is when we break out from our clockwork routines and reach out for a different horizon; get back to our primitive instincts and start travelling. Seems hard, but once you get started, its worth the trouble.
The title was taken from a movie by the same name and many ideas presented in the article were inspired from the movie as well.
