Why I Hate Traveling for Work

Traveling is something that has always been very close to my heart, but of late, I have started hating it. I don’t like to pack my bags anymore as I used to do earlier. I don’t like to experiment with foods the way I did a few years ago. All of this happened because I decided to choose travel job over desk job seven years ago. Only the first year in my job was great as I loved exploring new cities, but everything started becoming tiring after a while. Let me tell you why I don’t like my job anymore and why I want to return to a normal life.

No rest

Traveling for leisure is a different thing and doing such a pleasing thing for work is a completely different scenario. I hate waking up at 4 am to catch a flight at eight in the morning. I have to pack my check-in luggage at night and I cannot afford to pack a huge luggage since it takes a long time at the airport to submit and take it back. I hate waiting in the long queues even when I cannot stand straight for a minute. There have been times when I feel like I would crash any moment, but still I have to be there for an important job in a remote city in the other corner of the world.

No time for sightseeing

When I first went to Pune, I had thought that I would see as many sights as I can after my office. However, endless number of meetings and trainings were lined up for me in the administrative center and I could not even eat my lunch at peace. When I reached my hotel at 9 pm, the first thing that came to my mind was to have a glass of wine after a shower and crash in the bed. Three days went like this in the city, and my plans of going around Pune in the evening went down the drain. I have seen many cities around the world now, but some of them are only for the namesake.

Eating just anything

More often than not, I do get free food during my travels, but I have started hating it now. I don’t like the free meal coupons that include only fast food or unhealthy fatty cuisines. I rather prefer a bowl of cereals with milk in the morning, or just a plain egg omelet rather than lavish foods in every meal. Instead of having beer every evening, I try to grab a glass of fresh juice no matter what. The office parties do not interest me anymore, especially when my body clock is against the local timings.

Poor health

I can realize my deteriorating health whenever I eat unhealthy foods for a week or more. My body starts giving me signals that I need to bounce back to a healthy routine as soon as possible so that I can enjoy my work as well as weekends. However, no matter how hard I try, I can never be as hale and hearty as I would be at home. I used to work for a Self-Drive Car Rental company, have good food, maintain a stable routine, and go for parties only during weekends. Now I can party throughout the year, but it does not interest me anymore. As soon as I get a chance to be with my family and my cats, I take a flight to my hometown and spend maximum time with them. I don’t say that traveling for work is bad, but it saturates me after a while.

How I Caught the Trek Fever and Got over It

Trek fever is something new for those who have not taken many treks, but those who have scaled several peaks know about it for sure. When I started trekking in 2014, I would go for a vacation in every 2-4 months and take a strenuous trek. However, I would fall sick after a day or two whenever I returned home. I used to regard that fever as a regular thing since my body needed rest after so many days of strenuous trekking. However, little did I have the information that it was Trek Fever. I realized that I got this fever because of the difficult things I had to undergo during the trek. 

The reason for falling sick 

I live in Pune and needless to say that I enjoy the typical urban life of an upper middle-class person. I do spend some time walking here and there, but this much of workout is too less to take a trek. When I go for trekking, I have to fight with unfamiliar terrains, high altitude, and severe temperatures; and all these elements keep varying with time. After spending so many days with the same alien regime, I fathomed that my body uses up almost all its energy to keep me going. This rigorous system is tough for my body as well, which makes it fall sick when it cannot tolerate anymore.

When I return from the purity of mountains back to Pune, I have to face the pollution, viruses, and bacteria everywhere. But natural I fall sick since my immune system is at its weakest after the trek ends. Although I am lucky that I have escaped many times with just regular fever, my friends have even fallen prey to jaundice and typhoid. There is nothing to worry about a little fever after a few months, but no one likes to have their body weak and frail, even if it is for a few days. Moreover, the sickness also eats up the leaves of job persons, which are already too precious for the upcoming treks.

How I got rid of trek fever forever 

I never used to be an early bird in Pune, but just one trek to Bhrigu Lake made me so. I would wake up early in the morning and roam around the place just to inhale the aroma of the hills. And I used this habit of getting up early to maintain fitness. Just a few days of this regime made me so dedicated to keeping fit that I would have my body’s battery already charged up before I would begin my trek. Therefore, now I am able to maintain a consistent immunity for my body and I rarely fall sick. 

Avoiding junk food 

When I am out of the city, it becomes even harder to avoid junk food than it is in Pune. At least, I can cook my own meals in Pune, but not everywhere on the hills. Nevertheless, I make sure that I rent cars in Pune to cover my journey on the road because the Car Rentals Pune let me stock up lots of fresh food. I can never carry a huge bag full of fruits, vegetable, and juices in my bag, but I can do so in a car for sure. Moreover, when I have to eat at the restaurants and dhabas, I stick to basic food like roti, rice, curd, or daal.

Avoid sweating for a few days after the trek 

The first thing on my mind after I complete any trek is to take rest and avoid sweating to keep away from bacteria and viruses. When I feel energetic again, I resume the regular activities with my folks in Pune.

Back to that Slow Form of Travel in the Modern Times

Time poverty is nothing new in the world, but the trend is snowballing at an alarming rate. We can see almost everyone around us complaining about the shortage of time and wishing for a vacation. However, not many people can find out a solution for it and seek time for themselves. Even though they take a breather, it is just for the sake of visiting ‘five places in seven days.' Such an itinerary leaves them even more tired than provide relaxation. More and more people have started choosing a slow mode of traveling rather than adopting a complicated itinerary for a tiresome journey.

Almost all of us search for that one thing that can give us the much-needed peace of mind, but we cannot find it. While feeling nostalgic for our good old past, we somehow don't like to live in the present times. We always yearn for those times when we did not have many complexities in life. Life used to be simpler, and we used to be happier. For many of us, partying hard every weekend is just not the thing to do. We just want to relax in a small cottage on the hills or by the beachside. We want to find out a relationship with a new land, new food, and alien people- in short, just with life. We are tired of living an alien life in our own city. We want to start afresh in a new town with new people.

However, going back to the basics is not so easy for all of us. We have to follow the rules that the society has laid for us, and somewhere in our hearts, we feel obliged to follow those obligations. Whether we enjoy those social commitments or not, we have to find an exit to vent out that frustration that accumulates inside us over the years. 

“How” is the question 

Slowing down in life is just the right thing to do sometimes. We cannot be high on drinks every time we go out with friends; we have to come to our senses at some point in time to realize our standing in life. India is an attractive destination for those seeking solace in life. Many cities in the country have an excellent reputation for providing the much-needed peace of mind. Rishikesh is one of those beautiful places where you can head on to discover a new way of life. McLeod Ganj is another destination where people go and live for months in a row to introspect themselves. Places that give immense peace are the best locations to find inner peace, even if it is for a short while.

While traveling slowly to various destinations around the world, you don't have to take the slowest mode of transport necessarily. The idea is to breathe in as much of the air of a place as much as you can as you spend significant time there. Stay at one place for more than one day at least, discover it, and then decide whether you love it or hate it. Once you feel satisfied with the feeling of a place, you can proceed to the next destination. It gives immense gratification to have an in-depth feeling of a site for a long time and make beautiful memories than give an unsatisfactory visit to several places in one go. 

It does take a lot of time to cover multiple sites in just one lifetime while going at this slow pace, but one needs to realize that something or the other on the 'must-do, must-go' list will be left pending even if we give the maximum time possible. So isn’t it better to just relax and travel at a snail’s pace? The idea is to live life as you like it, and not to waste your time under the pressure of your peers. That indeed will fulfill the purpose of slow travel.