Columns on wellness, slow travel, real estate and shoes

In the digital age, as the last frontiers of the world get saturated by tourists, people are choosing fulfilling, unique journeys that will help them pause and reflect

Afew moons ago I visited the beautiful Kutch region of Gujarat. Taking us to the tiny village of Nirona, our-guidecum-driver took us to perhaps the only remaining family on earth who were practicing an obscure Persian art form, Rogan art.

Mixing castor oil with natural pigments, they applied the resultant paint painstakingly with a metal stick in vivid designs on cloth, an art so precious that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a stunning Rogan tree of life to erstwhile President of USA Barack Obama. For a few hundred rupees, I owned an art form, and left with a travel memory that would stay with me for years.

For the seasoned and the somewhat jaded world traveller, seeking inspiration in a world numbed by the social media onslaught, travel has acquired a new authentic sheen. It promises an immersive experience more potent than any possession, a reason for people to pack their bags and discover the world. An antithesis to mass tourism, slow travel erases the pressure of time and the need for ticking off a checklist. We look at how the slow life will transform our journeys this year.

RESPONSIBLE MOBILITY: As popular destinations, veritable tourist traps, get clogged by excursionists, many are going off the grid to get away from the teeming masses, as well as give the destination respite and time to recover. Last summer, a digital campaign went viral urging travellers to choose alternate destinations to Shimla, given the acute water shortage India’s Queen of The Hill’s suffered. This showed

an unusual sensitivity towards the delicate ecological and social sustainability balance a popular destination needs to maintain. Today the jet-setter is conscious about his carbon footprint and his impact on the environment. According to the Sustainable Travel Report released by Booking.com last year, 87 per cent of global travellers said that they wanted to travel sustainably. #TRAVELDEEPER: The popular hashtag has over five million photographs on Instagram tagged with this innocuous phrase. With travel arching on the upper reaches of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, motivated by the desire for selfesteem, self-actualisation and personal development, travel needs to reflect that, providing authentic access to the unknown. . The Sustainable Travel Report points out that vacationers want to buy locally made products, eat local cuisine, opt for eco-friendly accommodation and go off the beaten path to discover the essence of a region. And there is no better example than the disruptive global community-based online hospitality marketplace, AirBnB, which first rolled out a mass offering, but now is appealing to even the luxe traveller with its premium rentals, coaxing them away from the organised world of luxe hotels. BUILDING CONNECTIONS: With the looming gaps in social inequity across the world, making a positive impact, embracing the family, promoting humanity and understanding differences through people is paramount.

WANDERING FOR WELLNESS: Today, travel is a tool to achieve a state of wellness, to go from FOMO (the fear of missing out) To JOMO (the joy of missing out). Self-care is now a priority, and The Global Wellness Institute predicts that by 2020 wellness tourism will rise to USD 800 billion dollars. Fitness festivals, wellness retreats, spa vacations, mindful escapes, bootcamps, shamanic getaways, and even baby and pet get away holidays will be de rigueur as we stride forth in the new year. The aspirational traveller seeks journeys that are self-transformative, in a bid to connect with the earth, its people and most importantly, themselves.

THE CONSCIENCE OF TRAVEL: Years ago, I went snorkelling in the pristine waters of the Great Barrier Reef, swimming with the massive Maori wrasse and the odd green turtle lolling past. The impact of global warming and plastic pollution to the waters has been devastating. According to the journal Nature, great swaths of the Great Barrier Reef were permanently transformed in the heatwave of 2016. In 2030, it is predicted there will be 2.4 billion international tourism arrivals, and billions more domestic tourists, which compelled the former UN World Tourism Organisation Secretary General, Taleb Rifai, to say, “Will tourism bring us one billion opportunities to make the world a better place, or one billion disasters?” We can decide what it will be.

As per the Sustainable Travel Report released by Booking.com last year, 87 per cent of global travellers said that they wanted to travel sustainably