Travel fantasies.. no, not another “11 places to visit before I die” list!
As is clear from the long ‘looking-like-its-a-blog-post-in-itself’ title, this post is not about the 11 or 101 places I want to visit before I become 30 or 40 or a similar round number.
This post is about how I imagine ‘ideal’ travel to be. Oooooooh, treading on thin ice, I know! There is nothing like ideal travel, one might say. One’s man ideal travel could be another man’s living hell. And I completely agree. So, let me clarify.
This is a list of things that when I see someone else doing while I am travelling, I can’t help remarking to myself – ‘Oh, I should be doing that’. This is a list of things I imagine that I’d be seen doing if there was a movie made to document my travels. And this list seems to keep growing without many items getting struck off.. maybe, that’s why I chose to call them fantasies. But there’s hope, so I shall start with one which I recently managed to cross off..
1. Sitting outside a European cafe sipping hot chocolate and writing in travel diary.
Yes, this one sounds ripped off from a movie. It probably is, I don’t know. I imagined it as a sunny day, sitting on an outdoor table of a cafe somewhere in Europe, chilling out with a refreshing hot drink while scribbling notes in my diary.
And I did it! Last month, during my Eurotrip, when I was in Paris, I did exactly that. In a cafe at the Jardins des Tuilerie gardens (which stretch from the Louvre museum to Place de la Concorde). Can’t imagine a better place to fulfill the fantasy. Icing on the cake? Eating delicious nutella crepe! 
Bliss! Nutella crepe, hot chocolate and my travel journal!
2. Play football with local lads when visiting a foreign country
Football/soccer, whatever you call it. Actually, it doesn’t matter which sport it is. Sports convey a universal language. You don’t need to know a single word of the local language, but that pat on the back after scoring a goal, or the big thumbs up after giving a good through-pass, or the big smile and handshake at the end of the game say more about being part of a universal brotherhood than the collected speeches in a United Nations summit could ever do.
3. Sing ‘Ruby Tuesday’ at a Karaoke bar, having a good time with friends and strangers
This is a very peculiar one, and probably the easiest one to get done, but then what usually appears too easy usually isn’t. Simple reason. I don’t know how to sing. At all. And inherently, am a shy guy. So despite actually preparing for it, despite taking a printout of its lyrics, I haven’t managed to do it yet. Wish me luck (and the same goes for the poor folks who’d have to listen to me singing)!
4. Be able to sketch when I see a great sight while travelling
A great sight could be the Rhossili Bay in Gower Peninsula, Wales or it could be the Eiffel Tower in Paris or it could be a little kid chasing pigeons at the Trafalgar Square in London. This one should hopefully come true soon, as I am learning sketching right now! I’ll share with you some initial sketches I made in the classes very soon..
So, my chase for these dreams continues.. Do you also have any such travel fantasies?
Nice post.. curious to see your sketches..
Thanks Mansi! I am just learning now, so don’t keep your expectations too high!
Waiting for the sketches… do you intend to sketch Naruto
Hahaha.. am not that crazy! I’ll choose a better theme to which I’ll be able to do much less justice!
In fact, in next class, I am gonna try to sketch this one.. http://idrinkmyteasweet.com/2010/03/23/the-beauty-of-stillness/
ooooh, nutella crepe? That seriously sounds delicious.
And not me, but my friends had that privilege of getting out of the car on a misty and rainy day at Castlerock and play football with the locals there, in the rain and mud and slush. Just as they show in the movies and I was as usual busy clicking pictures.
Ooooh, it was tasty. The perfect combination is Crepes with Nutella and banana. Didn’t get a chance to try the banana one though.
Yeah, the football one – I have fulfilled it partially, played football with a few Aussie friends from my Eurotrip tour group, so although a foreign land, but not exactly local folks.. hehe. But it was fun!
You used to sketch earlier. What happened to that?
Sketching, sports, writing and probably some music instrument too. Aren’t we indulging in too many things considering you have a demanding job too?
Hehe.. yeah, that was a different time. Now, am actually learning to sketch. It’s not anything super-pseud, but more like basics.
Demanding job? Well, all these are fantasies.. not everything is happening. You forgot to count learning a language
Wow, I’m glad you made a start. I think I shared the same travel dream, though subconsciously. Of sipping hot chocolate in a small cafe by a lake in Italy (they take hot chocolate literally, it’s so good!) and blogging on the go in a cafe by the snow-covered Alps. Absolutely loved it.
After reading your post, (2), the universal language of sports, is going on my list of things to do too
Oh, Alps. I just love mountains; snow-covered peaks put me in a trance! And Europeans are good at making hot chocolate, they actually make it hot unlike the lame ones served at CCDs back home in India.
Which sport would be on the top of your list?
sigh. nutella crepe sounds like my idea of heaven.
i’d like to write a book while travelling. this sounds madly ambitious and daunting, which is why i have so much fun imagining it.
i’d like to be able to solo travel in India, safely
(and this is going to sound like a contradiction,but…)
i’d want to travel with a partner with similar interests.
i want to travel to South America and learn Latin ballroom dancing!
okay,okay, i’d stop now!
p.s. it’s not a contradiction, trust me.
Lovely travel fantasies you have, I would vote for the first one, which looks realistic to me, I would LOVE to practice the last one too, but I’m so NOT-gifted
Thanks Angela! But you are Italian anyway, so you should be wishing for the first one in some nice exotic place in South America or Asia somewhere
About the sketching, the only way you’ll ever know is if you have a go at it!