I want to hear from you… yes you! What inspires YOU to travel? I began travel FOUNDations as a way to inspire people to travel through my own travel stories and adventures. Through my stories, guides and tips I’m hopeful that you will find the inspiration to go out and discover your own travel stories.
With this second “What Inspires You to Travel?” guest post I’m continuing a series of stories from my readers and other bloggers that I will be sharing with you every few weeks or so. If you would like to share your travel inspiration and be featured on the blog please email me for details. I really do want to hear from all of you!
Continuing the series is Jennefer Barua. Jen is crazy passionate about two things, seeing the world and how to save our planet. She started travelling when she was less than a year old, and got hooked on jet setting ever since! She has lived in 4 different countries including Canada, India, U.S.A (Hawaii) and South Korea. The thing that she loves so much about travelling is learning from other people by seeing and experiencing how they live. About the age of 11, she picked up a book called 'Oceans in Peril' It changed the way she looked at the world forever. She realized how much we mistreated not only our oceans, but our planet as well. Just because we didn't live in the ocean or in the forest, didn't make it right for us to pollute, pillage and destroy it. It was a horrible feeling. Soon she realized if things kept going this way, we won't have a home to live in for much longer. The beautiful sights and sounds we take for granted at home and when we travel will not be around for future generations to come.
She started educating her friends and classmates through fun plays, showing everyone that being more sustainable in our everyday lives didn't have to be super difficult or expensive. It starts with the willingness to try and to make small little change which later become habits. Learn how you can change the way you travel at Carbon Zero Travel. Also follow Jen on Pinterest and Facebook.
The Foundation and Inspiration to Travel
I started travelling even before I could speak. My absolute earliest memory of a trip was when I was 4 years old and I went to Disney World with my family. I remember it being super hot, and full of colours and my favourite characters.
The next earliest memories that come to mind, were the trips my family and I took after we relocated to India. I remember getting on crowded trains and eating packed lunches. Seeing different sights and sounds. Of course being a kid, I didn’t understand the things we were looking at, like old palaces or temples and why they were important. However these memories have formed the foundation of my inspiration to travel.
My parents immigrated from India before I was born. Both my brother and I were born in Canada, and while we were in our childhood, my parents decided to move back to their home country. My family came from the eastern region of India, specifically a city named Kolkata. My brother’s health starting declining and we decided to move to a ‘cleaner’ city in the south called Bangalore.
Most of my childhood travels were in and around Southern India, and being from the East, the two places were very culturally different. The cuisine, the language, and even how people dressed. This was the root of when my love for travel started to grow.
I saw the differences in how people lived, how people interpreted art through their architecture, song and dance and even food! Even as a child, the first thing I fell in love with was trying food from different cultures.
As I grew older this inspiration only got wider. There were certain cultures that I gravitated towards without any explanation. I remember when I first saw a Flamenco dancer I was completely moved to the point of tears, and becoming mesmerized when I saw hula being performed for the first time.
These cultural experiences extend to societal etiquette as well because it is interesting to see how the daily lives of people differ from one place to another and how mannerisms of people differ. For example, I found it fascinating how people refused to sit in the elderly only seating when I was in Korea. No matter how crowded the train got, that seat had to be kept empty. Also talking on public transportation was hugely frowned upon. It’s wildly different from my hometown where people will sit in the elderly-only seating and only will give up their seat once it is needed for an elderly person, and have loud, sometimes annoying conversations for everyone to hear.
Experiencing different cultures is my primary inspiration for travel - through cuisine, admiring performances and architecture. It is what I think makes the world so beautiful, how we can all live on this tiny planet but have so many beautiful interpretations of what we call life.
Safe Travels!
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