I recently discovered the difference between Traveller and Tourist. I felt very identified with the two at different times of my first trip in India. I became a tourist and I became a traveller. Something had blended, not good or bad, not better or worse, but I clearly experienced that passage, from one to the other (and until then, my previous vision of a tourist returned) … I felt that it went deeper, that I stopped instantly, I looked … looking, smelling … smelling. Little by little I began to feel. Something that cost me a lot in my daily urban life and daily routines. It had cost me my whole life and I did not even know it.
As a traveller I also experienced a feeling of belonging. To places and spaces, to water and land, to everyone and everything. The languages, the skin, iris colours were mixed to discover, that, beyond all differences, we need the same things. Most of us want to be better people, that our children have a better education, that we can share moments of joy and moments of sorrow, that we have food on the table and a roof over our heads, to protect us from the elements.
Being a tourist for a while helps to get into the trip, but as I journey its clear that I am definitely a traveller.
India made me feel, made me breathe again and gently reminds me that I am alive!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.