Here’s a dumb idea. Book a train for a big city. Don’t make any plans. Do it during the holidays. Don’t even book a hotel room. Just show up – no companions, no network, no activity to tap into.
After two months of moving around, I think I’m ready to put down some roots. My desire to explore Kolkata has been eclipsed by the reality that without a network to tap into, or peers for the ride, I’m just really bored and lonely.
Yesterday, while wandering along the banks of Kolkata’s Hooghly River, I had a funny moment. I was showing my Lonely Planet guide to a couple of travelers who were also staying at my backpacker lodge. I flipped open the book to the section on Kolkata and West Bengal. And I suddenly had the urge to go there. Even though I’m already here.
When it comes down to it, I don’t really feel like I’m getting to know this city.
There are different kinds of tourists in the world: history buffs, foodies, temple gazers, luxury finders, monument seekers, hedonists, the list goes on. Some find pleasure in an ancient structure. Some find pleasure in a new style of food. Some even find pleasure in a new club or disco.
Me? I’m discovering that I’m a social tourist. I get a thrill out of meeting people. For me, a new location is only as interesting as my ability to access and understand its social networks. I need to spend at least some time walking through an environment alongside the people who already do.
The train ride to Kolkata was emminently more rewarding than the destination itself. During those 36 hours across the Indian plains, I interacted with a range of interesting people — a shy Garwhali college girl from the Himalayan foothills, a Muslim man who laid foundations for a living, a jeweller/gold salesman whose happiness to keep my old blanket didn’t quite jive with his claimed line of work.
But now that I’m off the train, I’m a witness once again. Bengalis stream through their city, and I gaze at them from my tourist lens. I count the days (four) before I reach my next destination. In Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, I will be joined by a new friend from New Delhi. Deeksha Bhargava is a graduate student in ancient Indian history. She and a friend are looking forward to exploring Orissa’s ancient temples. I’m looking forward to talking with a human being I already know.
But really, after two months of wandering, I’m ready to put down some roots. India’s capital, New Delhi, calls to me. There are other glamorous locations, but it is there where I will have that critical combination of mission, friends, and routine.
Time to move out of the suitcase, and into an apartment.
