Once upon a time, there were ‘Nomads’. Men and women who roamed from one place to another in search of food and shelter. After a series of civilizations emerged the ‘Free-spirited Wanderer’. A person who rejected society yearning for faraway lands. Then some decades back came the ‘Traveler’. He always had a place, a plan and he wanted to see the world. And today, it’s all ‘Wanderlust’…
Are we once again standing on the verge of change? Is a new age traveler coming to life? Well, he most certainly is. This new age traveler is an explorer. Not exploring hidden treasures, but exploring himself while being lost in travel. He is a navigator, finding his own ways and following his own directions, through a touch on his smart phone. He is spontaneous and flexible, with no fixed plans. And looking at these early symptoms, this new age traveler is most likely ‘US’.
Ten years back, the most convenient way to book a trip was through a travel agency. Touring internationally was a bliss with Thomas Cook, and travel was the most synonymous to luxury. But today, we are overstepping the norm, and booking our own tickets, reading our own maps and finding local spaces to live on Airbnb. We reach our destination and we call in for Uber or Lyft, instead of finding a prepaid cab. The strangers we come across are our best friends on a trip, as we lay more faith in them to show us around than a noteworthy published guidebook.
A comfortable bed in a cozy home is what suits us the best. We are defying opulence and are together redefining the meaning of contemporary home stays. We love being frugal, not because we cannot afford, but simply because it is teaching us more. We search for local markets, crave for local foods, and connect with local crafts and culture. Its more about the unknown roads than the commercial ones with famous monuments and attractions laid on them. We connect to a place in our own personal ways, best known and understood by our own self.
So no longer do we stream travel shows on the television making a list of famous places to eat. Rather we reach and connect through foursquare to locate the best around us. We trust fellow traveler reviews more than food guides, solely because we are also the ones writing them with honest notes.
We are a breed of new age travelers who are in sync with other fellow travelers in a mysterious, universal kind of way. We speak an unknown, yet a common language. We believe in documenting our experiences not in photographs, but in feelings, fragrances, taste and memories of the people we meet. We find souls in places we visit and see the world with the same eyes, just a bit differently. We meet on the road and celebrate our finds on our blogs. We share in our most unusual ways, because we are weaving a world that is best defined by us and us alone. We are certainly the new age travelers!
– From the Editor’s Heart. (Because someone had to start documenting the new us!)