Embarking On An Unhurried Adventure
At the start of each new year, since 2008, Kapil and I had talked about taking a few months off work to travel. We longed to step back from the mindless routine and compulsive busyness of our lives to wander unhurried down the cobblestone streets of Europe. This conversation soon turned into an annual charade that we both participated in earnestly—talking about the countries and cities we would visit, and dreaming about all the things we would see, hear, taste and feel in these far off lands. I call it a charade because after this discussion the two of us always went right on planning each year without firm intention of making this travel happen. Neither of us would have the option of taking months off work; we would have to resign from our jobs to travel the way we wanted to. Walking away from our jobs and the resulting loss of income seemed incredibly daunting. These two topped a fairly strong list of reasons that made the kind of travel we longed for seem like an impractical pipe dream. So, we settled instead for world exploration in small annual doses.
As time passed we realised that letting our travel dreams dissipate would have a greater, more long-lasting impact on us than any temporary deprivation or discomfort we would have to suffer as a consequence of taking the leap. We decided to take half a year off work to travel. Taking that kind of leave of absence was not an option, so there was nothing else to do but put in our papers at work. We then gave up the lease on our rental apartment, put most of our worldly possessions in storage and packed our bags.
We started our travels in Vietnam and Cambodia, then went to Singapore before heading to Beijing to begin a 21-day Trans Siberian Rail adventure that took us from Beijing to St Petersburg in Russia via Mongolia. From Russia, we slowly made our way around most of Europe. 23 countries later, our only regret is not doing all this sooner.
