Travel secret

Touring the World...

With the arrival of summer, newspaper pages are flooded with advertisements from tour and travel agencies offering holiday packages. 

Some of them promise ultimate enjoyment in a three night-four day trip to Istanbul, others offer experience of a lifetime during the ten-day Europe tour. They offer various packages to suit different pockets. 

Going through these advertisements, I wondered what can a person see in a week or two. Soon I came to the conclusion that until and unless one wishes to explore something from the bottom of the heart, he/she cannot truly explore the world. And if one has the will to explore the unseen world, then one can even find interesting places in his surroundings.

Tourists from different parts of the world come to the UAE to explore this amazing country. But we, who have been living here for so many years, have not explored the country ourselves. We might have seen almost all the malls or landmark buildings here. 

But sightseeing in the UAE is not just limited to malls, towers and beaches. There is more to it that we need to explore.

While discussing this special topic, I remember a quote of Helen Keller, the famous English writer who had once said, “What I am looking for is not outside me but inside me. The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

It is so true.  I have realised that one will not be able to enjoy a tour unless one has that vision. Make it a point to explore the world from your inner eyes during the next trip abroad.

(Published in The Gulf Today on May 30, 2015)