Fernweh #NewNormal #AtoZ

 Fernweh 

(German) An Ache for distant places

Humans since time immemorial

needed more than

shelter, bread, and sex

home, hearth, and safety

the urge that made them

conquer mountains

sail the seas

look for life beyond this blue dot

and now 

this sense of adventure

lies caged

in fear.

Mechanical human wings

oars and wheels

are now chained

but has the Fernweh 

been fueled 

or has it ceased?

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This is my 6th #AtoZ, read the posts from previous challenges HERE.

Find a List of all my 2021 AtoZ posts HERE.

This post is part of #BlogchatterA2Z

This post is also part of the global Blogging from A to Z 2021

An Almost Impossible #BlindList

I am going to be 40 in 4 months and I have never taken a solo vacation. 

Yes I have traveled alone a lot, but it was mostly between cities I worked or studied to hometown and even now for work mainly but never for leisure, those trips were first with parents, then with friends ( in an only girls group too, then ex-husband, then child but never ever alone.


Being a woman in India the blueprint is set early, in my small hometown no girl ventured alone even to the school or library. I extended my limits there and learned how to be "safe" along with enjoying the long solo walks up and down the slopes of Shimla.

As I moved to bigger cities for higher education first, then for work and finally due to marriage I did travel alone a lot in jiggling roadways buses, overcrowded trains and shared taxis but there was no pleasure in those trips. Only covering the distance from point A to point B for a specific purpose.

I dressed conservatively, was always careful about my belongings, never became too friendly with a co-passenger so basically followed all the "good Indian girl" rules.

Now I have have finally arrived at writing #theblindlist , I want to #sayyestitheworld and finally let my wanderer soul roam freely.

Picture Courtesy : Picjumbo

The odds still stand, even greater may be- single parenting, Fibromyalgia, the horror of #MeToo stories and yet I want to give the world and myself a chance to do the following:

• Go on a trek in a group of strangers
• Go river rafting and feel the river touch me like a passionate lover
• Go Bungee jumping and feel the blood rush
• Drive with my limited driving skills to a forgotten castle, a secluded monastery
• Take a long train journey, through places where I learn new languages
• Meet a stranger somewhere on a journey and make a friend
• Look at countless sunrises and sunsets from an uninhabited island
• Visit the indigenous people somewhere and live their way for some days
• Wear what I want to wear for once while travelling
• Be on a flight without knowing my destination

Tea & Travel ( in the memory of my late father)

T

 

Blogging from A to Z Challenge [April 2015]

 

 

 

 

 

 

I try to remember

all the places

and all the types of tea

 you had with me

 

 

In mud cups,

in fine china

roadside glasses

trains, buses, cars

in the comfort of our home

and across journeys

 

from aluminium kettles

ornate flasks, travel mugs

wherever ,whenever

there was tea

we were always ready :)

 

 of the many gifts Papa

I wish my girl would inherit

 from you and me

 

one of the best would be

our love for travel

and our passion for tea.