LIVE LIFE LIKE A TOURIST!

As we complete six months in a new country, I’m often told by old hands here that we are doing better than expected. Part of the reason is technology and social media that helped us get connected to strangers who helped us right from selecting the school for our daughter to house hunting to grocery shopping and sundry other mundane stuff that you can imagine a relocation entails.

And the second aspect was a kind of pact that the three of us, my husband, my daughter and I, had made before leaving home. And that was, to live like a tourist. I remember once having a discussion at home, over tea, as to what it meant for everyone when they heard the phrase ‘living like a tourist’ (yes, we regularly had chai pe charcha before it gained political flavour)

Before I digress, let me tell you what we culled out of that discussion. For one it meant living out of a suitcase, for another being starry eyed and discovering new stuff was what it meant. I think so far, we have managed to encompass the spirit of that discussion in our day to day lives. How? I’ll share a little here….

Thanks to the move, we got rid of a lot of stuff and carried only as much luggage as was required. So hopefully I wouldn’t be needing a Marie Kondo, any time soon, as much as I admire her.

Weekends are spent exploring the place, that I like to call a many-wondered-city. Our eyes are full of amazement still, as we soak up the sights and culture.

Being a tourist, we are excited to explore the culture and experiment with what the city offers. (Though being a vegetarian does come in my way of culinary adventures)

Every time we are out, I feel all our senses are triggered so there’s always something that keeps surprising us.

Sometimes things don’t go as per our itinerary but then something equally exciting comes our way. And the advantage of being a ‘resident tourist’ is that we can always go back to where we wanted do. And sometimes just go ahead without a plan and make one on the way.

We were quite attached to our home and stuff that we owned back then. But this move has driven in us, the virtue of detachment. Ahh…. nirvana isn’t far away!

So far, the strategy seems to have worked well. Truth be told, I am not really missing an out of town vacation which otherwise is long overdue (the relocation took away the better part of 2018 for us). The mindset has helped stave off boredom and kept sadness and homesickness at bay. May I suggest, try working this out in your current situation, rather than getting jolted into it with a relocation. Don the touristy hat and goggles and explore your city the way you’ve never done (take a day off from work and school to make it perfect). I’ll be curious to hear what you have to say!

DR SHIVANI SALIL

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