Mark Twain said, “One must travel to learn.” Travel is one of life’s greatest teachers and the best form of education you can get irrespective of the places you travel and adventures you have. It pulls you out of your comfort zone and plunges you into the unknown. Travel bloggers Flexcia D’Souza and Kevin Pinto, both intrepid and passionate travellers shared their travel experiences and stories on The Navhind Times show, ‘Talk from the Heart’ that aired on the Goa 365 TV channel.
“A decade ago I was studying in Mangalore and short weekends did not allow for trips back home,” said Flexia as she recounted her journey since college days, “And from there began my exploration of places in the south.” So much did she enjoy these short sojourns that she would take up freelancing at events or small modeling assignments to financially support her love for travelling. For Kevin the travelling bug bit when he too was still in college. “I used to bunk college just to go on trips in and around Goa! On a student’s allowance, travelling to far off destinations was not possible hence I used to travel to off-beat places in Karnataka and Maharashtra and this led to travel blogging as time passed,” he shared.
Travelling has many benefits; from seeing new places and meeting people from different cultures to developing virtues like patience and humility, and even learning to think out of the box, the list is long. “Travelling brings a lot to the table in terms of experiences and people. It expands your horizons no end,” said Flexcia. She also emphasized the importance of interactions with locals to get the authentic flavour of a place and said, “You can learn about a place and its people and culture from documentaries or books but the real learning happens when you see it firsthand.”
With travelling becoming easier and more affordable, the number of people who have taken up travelling for leisure and learning has increased greatly. From short getaways to long-haul trips, travelers today are looking for more. Solo travel, music and other festivals, camping, road trips are some of the forms of travel most enjoyed by majority of travellers. “Today, especially the young travellers are choosing experiences over places. They find the offbeat more attractive than the touristy places and are hence more adventurous. They do not mind roughing it out and are also very spontaneous,” said Kevin.
Communication, proper research and planning were some of the essentials of travelling that Flexia mentioned. As a solo woman traveler she also emphasized the need for staying safe and added, “You have to learn to trust your instincts and another important aspect I believe is to dress appropriately. Respecting culture and people goes a long way in helping you enjoy the experience and people even better.”
Asked what some of their favourite destinations were; Kevin who has travelled extensively within the country listed Vietnam as his best international trip while for Flexcia, Kerala, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh topped the list.
They also spoke about the best modes of travel, gave tips on how to plan budget trips, challenges faced while travelling, survival skills and much more. “Travel not only teaches you about a place and culture but also about yourself as you get the time, space and surroundings to introspect. I would hence recommend travel to all people,” said Kevin.
