Travel Without Traveling — Exploring Your Own Backyard

I’m going to tell you two stories today. Stories that would make you look at travel with a fresh perspective.

We have always looked at travel as part of exploration and introduction to different cultures. But what if it isn’t completely true – but rather a comforting illusion we have been falling for?

Social media has glamorized travel so much that we begin to believe that fulfillment and wonder only lie in faraway, picture-perfect destinations.

It doesn’t matter if you are living even on the most beautiful place on earth – if you aren’t traveling, you aren’t cool.

However, these two stories would challenge that perspective in the simplest ways.

#1 – The Exploration Story

There was a wise woman traveling through the mountains. Once, on her journey, she found an unusual stone in a river that seemed rare. She looked at it wholeheartedly and tucked it into her bag.

A few days later she encountered a man who was very hungry. Without hesitation, she opened her bag and offered him food. The traveler noticed the precious stone in her bag and asked to see it. The woman smiled, handed it to him freely along with the food, and moved on in her journey.

Enthralled by the stone, the traveler left knowing that the stone was valuable enough to secure him food for a while. But a few days later, he came back searching for the woman and handed her the stone.

The woman was surprised to see him again and asked if he wanted more food. He looked at her, nodded, and said slowly in a deep voice, “I know the stone you gave me is very valuable… but I want something more valuable than this stone.”

The woman was confused.

“I want that thing within you that enabled you to give me this stone without any hesitation.”

Sometimes, the greatest treasures in life aren’t external. They are not the places we need to explore or cities we need to visit.

Sometimes, the Joy of Missing Out can be more liberating than the Fear of Missing Out. You know, like – JOMO > FOMO

Exploration isn’t about distance. It is a mindset. 

Exploring your own backyard doesn’t mean limiting your adventure — it means realizing that the same curiosity, presence, and wonder we reserve for exotic travel can be applied to familiar places too.

One thing that I’ve personally learnt is that traveling and exploring are not the same. You can travel to exotic places and still not be an explorer, and you may not travel at all and yet acquire the wisdom that exploration offers.

It is like searching the whole house for your glasses, only to find them resting on your forehead all along.

#2 – The Novelty Bias Story –

This second story is my personal experience.

I visit Konkan every year to meet my family and relatives. It is a beautiful place and being in that nature feels peaceful. I have always loved Konkan, especially during monsoons. It’s not just the calming weather that I adore, but the lifestyle here that has a special place in my heart.

Simple, slow, and peaceful.

Growing up, I spent my summer vacation here. It showed me a life very contrasting to my city life.

Simple food, simpler people. Clean air, cleaner coastline – all surrounded by a warm blanket of tall trees and lush greenery.

This time when I visited it was after a while. I was sitting on the swing watching the incessant rain from the window. It was pouring heavily this time – or perhaps I hadn’t paid so much attention to it before. In the corner of the verandah, I saw my uncle sitting down cutting jackfruit from the stack he had collected over the summer.

In that moment, I realized nothing had actually changed here. Everything was exactly the same. Every single day was just as the previous one.

It felt like these people lived in a different world – a place where the noise and competition of the external world did not disturb the fold of life.

And yet, surprisingly, I felt complete. I felt like I belonged to this place.

I realized that one of the reasons why we all crave exotic trips and far-off places is because of the novelty it offers. What if we all were actually chasing novelty under the banner of exploration and experience?

Novelty tricks us into believing that visiting new places and exploring new cultures will enrich our life and broaden our experiences. Only that it doesn’t always.

And, unknowingly, we start giving more attention, value, or preference to new or unfamiliar things.

But you know what – curiosity, exploration, and novelty don’t require a passport — they’re states of mind.

Familiarity breeds indifference – we stop seeing what we see every day. It’s the surprise element in novelty that gives us a dopamine hit and stimulates our brain.

In this trip to Konkan, there was nothing novel. In fact, everything was exactly the same as it was couple decades ago – and yet I experienced a feeling of equanimity and stillness that I had always been chasing.