Writing and Travelling... Holiday Away!

I have travelled a bit, but obviously it is never enough. I guess the best thing about travel is all the stuff one gets to write about. I remember as a child, that we got around the state of then Andhra Pradesh thanks to my father being transferred around. But it was only afterwards, that I actually went and checked out some places.

First to Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, then to some hill stations like Dehradun, Binsar, then east to Lonavala and then down south to Ooty, Yercaud, Coorg, Pondicherry, Goa, Araku Valley, Hampi, Nagarjuna Sagar and Horsley Hills. I also went to Kolkata, that all the sides! But, it was never enough. Am sure I have missed out on quite a few places and worse still, I have not travelled to them. I went on my first international trip, while I was working. To Singapore, we went but I regret not getting a chance to truly see it.

But, the places I have seen, I definitely came back with lots of ideas tucked away in my head. The greeneery and the hills. The citities, the rush and the crowds and the streets.

But let’s take up some tips, on writing about the travel front. Just getting ideas is not enough. :) Walking is probably the best way to actually know a place. I was lucky enough that I met and knew quite a few walkers. 

Write about a place tht you have loved and known. I can safely tell you that there is more of Bangalore that I know of then Hyderabad, where I had grown up. This is just so, you manage to capture your excitement and interest of a place.

For every place, you write about, see that you write whatever you can find out of the place. Ask old people, grandpas and grandmas because they have a few stories up their sleeve. Read up as much as you can about it, before you go there.

Find out more and try to find out something new about a place, see if you can lead with that. See that you are as vivid and expressive about a place. Do not overdo it, or you might lose your touch. You could check out some of the guides too.

See that your words say enough about the sights and smells too. Always carry a pen and paper or at least a smartphone, so you can note little details. Take as many photographs as possible. Try to get as much as possible in whatever time you have. When you are writing describe it as much as possible.

And travel and write as much as you can, because you can see and understand that way ‘no trip is ever a waste’. :)