Wanderlust

‘For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move’ - Robert Louis Stevenson in Travels with a Donkey,

Stevenson statement is a case of wanderlust. Those with ‘wanderlust’ don't necessarily need to go anywhere in particular; they just don't care to stay in one spot. The etymology of ‘wanderlust’ is very simple: ‘Wanderlust’ is lust (or desire) for wandering. The word comes from German, in which ‘wandern’ means ‘to wander’.

The film ‘Motorcycle Dairies’ captures a famous case of wanderlust. Four years before he led the Cuban Revolution, a young Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and his friend, Alberto Granado covered 5,000 miles, on a rickety old motorcycle. They had no fixed schedule and they were able to immerse in life transforming lessons picked up on the way while wandering.

So often, so many of us are seized by the travel bug. But the experiential scope is limited by a schedule crammed with things to do in a hurry and haste. We zoom across the planet leaving no time for soaking in the experience. The lust is for labels, not for true wandering. To be better at enjoying the real facets of Mother Earth, we must empower the desire to wander, rather than merely embark on hurried and harried travel.

We must invest unlimited time in wanderlust to receive greater returns in terms of unlimited happiness. Not just environment enthusiasts, every responsive human being must wander around Mother Earth to understand it better. And it is pertinent to note that the ones who celebrate their wanderlust find bliss. It is well worth the time!

Mother Earth extends an unlimited invitation to set sail

let’s BE BETTER at wanderlust by walking the slow trail…

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.