Travel down the ages from Hiuen Tsang to Richard Branson

Traveling is in our blood and from the earliest civilization, there have been travelers who traveled to explore far corners of the world – if there was no Christopher Columbus, there would have been no America. Names like Hiuen Tsang, Marco Polo and Richard Branson are linked to traveling and from trudging along on foot or on horses or sailing in the seas, people one day took to the air.
The first flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk paved the path for air travel and the 1965 British movie ‘Those magnificent men in their flying machines’ said it all.
People have traveled to the Artic and the Antarctica for scientific research, they have traveled to the deep forests of the Amazon in search of unheard of species of flora and fauna, and have traveled to the Moon, and are staying in the International Space Station. Soon, there would soon be Space travelers, thanks to private operators. There are also people who have made plans to travel to the Red planet Mars and are undergoing training on Earth, learning to adjust to the extreme conditions on the Red Planet.
Obviously, each of these travelers had and still have certain objectives. And then there are travelers who have to travel to fulfill the call of duty – in order to accommodate and pamper to this rising group, airlines have ‘frequent fliers’ facilities.
Others travel just for the fun of traveling, meeting new people, acquainting themselves with new lifestyles, culture and cuisine. They are the holidaying crowd and they travel to exotic destinations for sight-seeing or for engaging in adventure sports or to be in the arms of nature in natural reserves watching the varieties of wildlife in the raw Incidentally, in the sixties, hippies entered the scene. There were both men and women and they could be seen everywhere from crowded trains to buses or simply walking on the roads absorbing the scenery, the sights and the sounds. They had their rucksacks or backpacks slung over their shoulders, did not bother about the niceties of cleanliness, ate whatever came by and lived a carefree life devoid of all worries and emotions – to them, you have one life, live it to the fullest the way you want to.
The hippy culture brought with it drugs and associated vices and inspired movies like the 1971 movie ‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna’ starring Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman. And then there was Acharya Rajneesh and his Osho Ashram in Pune established in 1974 that attracted foreigners, mostly hippies. Similarly for ISKCON, the group devoted to the faith of Lord Sri Krishna and the Hare Krishna movement.
What makes for a good traveler? Well – first and foremost he has to accept the philosophy of embracing whatever comes his way, he should not be choosy and must always be ready with alternatives. Yes, he should plan his journey and itinerary in advance but must keep his options open to shift gears as and when needed. And – wen traveling in groups it is advisable to linkup with those who you know rather than complete strangers.