My social media marketing company was entirely a virtual operation until January, 2014. I have since then taken up an office space and built a team. Last year was difficult in terms of work, not surprising considering that the economy was really bad, everyone I spoke to shared woes of cost-cutting and reductions. Last year was also quite great as I got to travel a lot. :)
Building a business and team is a big adventure which I am exploring currently. Sadly its getting very difficult to juggle traveling – I mean hardcore traveling – the way I used to take my backpack and travel for weeks…
What I realized however is that just because I haven’t been on the road for a while (3 months) I haven’t really stopped being a traveler. I have really been enjoying stuff & this article I read recently really hits the right chord: It’s not the end of the world if you don’t travel
So I find there are many ways to express the traveler in you even though you aren’t on the road…
1) Exploring the city/hometown – A lot of people don’t know what is there right around the corner of their house. It’s astonishing! Since last year I have been exploring the city a lot. Mumbai – being the romanticized dream city, holds many interesting facets that a lot of us natives don’t know about! From century old village remnants, an area with innumerably many temples, animal shelters, chor bazaar (thief’s market) to forts, beaches, interesting food joints – this city has so many places to explore! It is not about visiting an exotic place – a lot of people feel traveling is about that. Large part of traveling is just about experiencing things in a new way so that it becomes exotic! So, experience your hometown in a new way! Explore its history, culture, heritage…..
2) People & their stories – One of the reasons travel is amazing is because it often leads to interactions where you meet different people and share amazing stories. The fact however is that a lot of times even people close to you have such stories – but you just never went beyond the usual routine conversations. So try and get to know the people around you & their stories. The servants, relatives, elderly… & apart from these there are also the more exotic people in the city. Go for events, meet them, talk to them… explore!
3) Yourself – Explore you! I sat with some of my older relatives and drew up a family tree. It was quite interesting. I started wondering what all these far off people were upto & what does it mean to be connected with them as distant relatives. I have also been experimenting with making new relations, accepting myself a little bit more, letting existing connections with people evolve… and so on! Basically stop controlling your life.. give it a bit of free reign.. & chill! Explore outside your comfort zone even in the comfort of routine!
4) Weekend Trips – Apart from the above there are always weekend trips, treks, hikes to go on!
So not exactly a digital nomad for now, though raring to get back on the road! Let’s see when n how. It’s very satisfying however to realize that travel has made me the kind of person who would be okay in different situations including a more settled type of life too :)
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