My dream-life is to be able to travel the world, immerse myself in new cultures and new places, and just keep going! There is so much to experience, so many countries to see, and one life-time is too short.
What do I do about it? I see the expenditure in travel as another form of investment, and so am happy to spend on a vacation as much as I am in making a financial investment. On a scale of one to ten, I guess you can say travel as a passion is around seven for me, and I look for opportunities to do it. Not bad I would assume, till I read about Vijayan, the ‘travelling teashop owner’. I think I am ‘deeply interested’ bordering on ‘passionate’ about travel, Vijayan is the one who is ‘truly passionate’.
Vijayan and his wife Mohana run a simple, corner roadside tea shop, earning a very modest income. He had to take care of his family once his dad passed away. But he also had a passion, and he was clear he was going to pursue it. His passion like mine, was travel.
So Vijayan has found smart ways to follow his dream, devised a way around the financial challenges with bank loans, and he has visited the length and breadth of India, and even sixteen other countries! And in 2015, with support from media and public, he visited his 17th country – the US of A. Wow and wow again!
Stories like that of Vijayan, always remind me that when you badly, really badly, want something, you find a way to make it happen. Such stories abound everywhere – in people who seem to conquer seemingly insurmountable odds and follow their passion, achieve the impossible…………
When I look carefully, I see some common threads in these stories. And I realise that if I clearly, badly want something, these qualities and behaviours are sure to emerge for me too.
One of the first that comes through, is innovation – how does one beat the odds? Novel ideas, new ways of looking at and dealing with issues is the key. In Vijayan’s case, he took a loan, spent it on travel, then repaid it till the next loan and travel!
Perseverance – we read the story after the victory –there is a lot of heartbreak and tough times that have come and need to be put aside, persistently, again and again, before the door opens. I am not sure that the first bank gave Vijayan his loan in the very first try!
Clarity on what I want – this I think is the key. What do I want? Is it to just travel because it is fun shopping in various countries? Because it is cool to be seen as a jet-setter? Is it because I want to eat cuisines across the world? People watching to compare and contrast behaviours and beliefs? There is no right or wrong reason, but knowing I want something and what I want from it and why I want it, helps sharpen and bring all my energies into achieving that as the end result. It is almost like focusing the rays of light through a glass to start a fire.
Enjoying the experience of achieving my passion – if I don’t enjoy what I finally get, how do I keep fuelling my passion for more? If Vijayan felt frustrated when he went out of the country first, found it uncomfortable to interact with people or eat the food, or felt lonely, he may not have continued. Enjoying the experience fuels the desire to keep the passion burning and alive.
Shared and doubled – Having his wife for company made the experience clearly better for him. While we tend to downplay the need for a partner, or a mentor, or a companion, or a friend, the reality is that having someone to root for you, to share the sweet taste of victory, to be joyous for and with you, doubles your chances of victory.
So go on, find your passion, and think long and hard about what you want as the experience of achieving it, and watch magic happen!