Travelling As a Mesns of Education

Travelling is not only a means of education, it is also a source of education. We learn more from nature than we learn from books. William Wordsworth says that nature is the best and truest of all teachers. Learning situations can“t be confined to classroom alone. Learning goes on all the time in school and outside it, wherever children have experiences which modify their behaviour.Experiences outside school are often more valuable than those in schools. They are also direct and so the learning is more lasting and precise. In travelling we gain experience through our direct encounter with the nature and environment. William Shakespeare has expressed his views on travelling as a means of education. He says, “Home keeping youths have homely wits.“ It clearly indicates that we must transcend the boundaries of four walls to gain experience and understand the world. Lord Tennyson in Ulysses has also expressed the same feelings when he says, “ Yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untravelled world. “ All of them had an unquenchable thirst and love for travel. Travel experiences are multidimensional providing rich food to body,mind and spirit. Swami Shankracharya had made it mandatory for every Hindu to pay a visit to all the four Dhams(places of pilgrimage )situated in the four directions of India. They are Badrinath(north), Rameshwaram(south), Jagannath (east) and Dwarika(west). He reiterates that every Indian will be able to understand the cultural unity of India in its diversity. It will foster national unity and patriotism in them. Thus we see that his motive was cultural unity among people. The motives of travelling are different for different people. In the olden times people visited places of pilgrimage with a religious motive. They travelled for salvation or to seek protection from the power of evil. Some people visit for business purpose and some others for sheer necessity. Nowadays most people visit for sight seeing. In summer people visit hill stations to escape from the scorching heat of the plains.most of the health resorts are situated in the mountainous regions. Some people have a taste to visit historical places with a rich cultural heritage. In the modern times the means of transportation have become easier, so the people often visit other lands and people. Whatever may be the purpose, travellers derive indescribable pleasure and benefits from from their visits. Travelling is not all comfortable. It is not a home away from home.But this is an adventure full of romance and experience. It is a direct touch with nature. We forget our worries and discomfort.It becomes a source of inspiration for the times to come.It is pity that man has lost his touch with nature and sold his heart in the money market. We read a lot about the travelogue of great famous writers. These visits inspire us with many lofty and noble thoughts. We must travel and see things for ourselves. It is most educative. But before we plan we should keep in mind the following dictum : “People travel to learn, but before they start, they should learn to travel.“

T R Sharma
Chief Editor
Him Academy, Hamirpur ( H P )