Differences add a hint of mystery

Often you hear that travelling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer and I truly believe there is a big truth to this saying. It hurts to spend money every day without earning a penny, but it opens your eyes to a different world, it opens your heart to so many people you meet, it broadens your way of thinking and it widens your perspective on how things are and could be. The world is not an easy place, things are never as straightforward as you would like them to be and often aren’t what they seem to be. Whether we like it or not, the way we each see the world is a reflection of who we are, our cultural background and our upbringing. It is so easy to say somebody is doing something stupid, but maybe they have a reason for doing things in such a way, a reason that we fail to see. And this leads to one of the harder things you learn when travelling, question yourself, your views, your thoughts and your judgments. Outside of your comfort zone things may feel strange and uncomfortable, but before you know it, it starts to feel familiar and becomes a place you feel safe again.

For me, it was exactly the same when I started off travelling through India on a motorcycle about 2 months ago. Every evening I felt tired, I felt I was not able to ride in such crazy traffic and I thought it simply wasn’t something I could do. Now, having ridden more kilometres in India than in Belgium or anywhere else in the world I cannot imagine having done it any other way. Every day I am not riding my bike I am at least thinking of it. Often I just go and sit on my bike for a while knowing I am ready to continue our journey to Nepal, the rest of Asia and if all goes well, to South America. Not that it isn’t tiring anymore, for sure it is, but that is simply because you start to ride longer days, bigger distances and more challenging roads.

We are staying in Pushkar, Rajastan till the papers for the last bike arrive and as such celebrated Christmas here, although there weren’t many people with the same idea. Christmas may be an official government holiday in India, but that is about as far as it goes. Maybe some other tourists had the same idea, but as it are mainly Israeli tourists here this also doesn’t add much to the Christmas spirit. Anyhow, we enjoyed it a lot, bought the most amazing gifts for a budget of 10€ and ate a true Christmas dinner in a restaurant for again the stunning price of 10€ for two people. I must admit it, is really strange to be celebrating on your own, but again it shows the relativity of the world. Living in Europe, it seems that Christmas is everywhere, while in India it is just a day gone by. Wonderful isn’t it? The diversity, the differences and at the same time the similarities. The media may try to focus your attention on all the differences in a rather negative way, but through this I want to ask you, let’s stay within the Christmas spirit and try to see the beauty of this planet. I plead you, try to appreciate the diversity this world has to offer instead of judging and see differences as an opportunity to question, to learn and to understand. Isn’t it exactly this diversity that makes our world to an extraordinary place with a hint of mystery? So let’s be different, let’s be mysterious, let’s be us!