Its a duty and also fun

“Are you by yourself?” is a question often asked when I travel. While I reply in the affirmative, a silent answer responds internally that I am not alone, but thousands of fellow travelers are with me. So are the beautiful nature and the enormous architectural wonders. No less are the diverse personalities that I encounter. This sense of camaraderie makes me consider that I owe a duty-a duty to give back on the road.

It all started as a child of seven on a pilgrimage to the Sri pada summit in Sri Lanka. Thousands of fellow travelers who had never met before, supported each other to make the overnight daunting accent to the summit an experience of fun. All volunteered in some way to make the experience more rewarding.

I have carried that lesson throughout my travel. The most recent give back was to convince a distraught teenager at the Glasgow bus station who had spent all his cash boozing, to call and get back home to Edinburgh. It could even be in the simple forms of lending an ear to an elderly lady who mistakes me for her grand daughter's class mate, or offering help with the London tube map when the tourists cannot find a local. More organized forms such as volunteering in projects preventing bush fires spread in Horton plains, the Narmada Andolan in Maharashtra, disaster management assistance in Sichuan earthquake, offering stress management support to graduate students in Maryland, convincing the local authority during a summer holiday to better utilize recycling resources and taking an hour off the road to assist a group of environmentalists promote a cause-all done while travelling, mostly as a tourist.

The unquenchable thirst to travel has transformed the genteel human being in me to a passionate traveler. Hence no day is well lived without having hit the road. So is giving back on the road. It has become a part of my travel life to the extent that, unless given back, no journey on the road is complete. And...the thirst remains...yet to be quenched.