Content Without the Journey
Conditioning runs deeper than we think - even in the smallest choices we barely notice.
There are certain aspects of life, propagated heavily by social media, that I just can’t relate to. One of those things I can’t relate to is travelling - even though it’s such a common obsession.
Travel bloggers and influencers have long preached the benefits of travel: how it can heal you, help you escape the daily mundane, and alleviate the stress of a soul-crushing job. There’s this underlying message that you need to travel frequently. That it’s essential. Honestly, a lot of that sounds alien to me.
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It’s been almost a year since my last trip. Do I feel incomplete? Do I have the itch to pack a bag just because it’s been 12 months since I chilled at some ‘must-visit’ destination? Not really. Would I like to go on vacation again? Sure, why not! Will travelling help me cope with job stress? Hell no! If anything, I’d come back more stressed.
This has been sitting at the back of my mind for a while. Why is it like this for me? I should want to explore the world more. At least that’s what I’ve been told. But I don’t.
And then, while listening to an episode of The Sandip Roy Show, something clicked. The guest, Ruchir Joshi, was discussing his new book, Great Eastern Hotel, which is set in 1940s Kolkata. At one point, he said something that struck me like lightning, even while I was in the middle of doing Arnold presses at the gym:
You go to a five-star restaurant in Delhi or Bombay, and ask for extra napkins. They’ll give you 10, like it doesn’t matter - it’s not their money. But in Calcutta, they’ll hesitate after the second one. This has happened to me too many times. There’s a sense of scarcity and anger
Both the host and guest agreed - this could be a lingering psychological effect of the famine. I don’t know about that. But the napkin example was spot on. Even when I’m in the office or a restaurant restroom, I make sure not to take more than one. And if I accidentally take two (because of the automatic machine!), there’s a tinge of grief. It lasts just three seconds, so let’s call it semi-profound grief?
That kind of conditioning might explain my lack of wanderlust. Growing up in a typical lower-middle-class family, we didn’t travel much for leisure. My first big trip was in 2008, when I was around 12. So, vacationing wasn’t a part of my life growing up. I suppose I’m simply not conditioned that way. I don’t feel sad or restless because I haven’t seen a new place in a year.
On the flip side, there are habits I’ve picked up from my upbringing that feel completely natural. One of them is my eating pattern. We used to have one non-veg (usually fish) meal for lunch, followed by a vegetarian dinner. To this day, I find it hard to relate when I see non-vegetarians surviving entirely on veg food for more than a day. But apparently, that's quite common across India (except in the Eastern parts) where non-veg is more of an occasional indulgence than a daily staple.
So maybe it all comes down to conditioning. Scarcity, habits, expectations - they shape what feels normal. And for me, not travelling isn’t a loss. It’s just life as usual.
That’s the thing about modern life - we’re told what should make us feel free, recharged, or fulfilled. But sometimes, freedom is not needing an escape. Sometimes, contentment is just knowing what doesn’t call you, and not feeling guilty about it.
Quiet thoughts travel better when shared. Feel free to forward this.
Beautiful! I can relate to it in more ways than one .