Fernweh (n.) - farsickness

The beautiful domes of Sergev Posad

The Germans have some beautifully descriptive words, associated with travel. The one that I have been relating to most, during these COVID-19 lockdown days, is 'Fernweh'. Quite literally, it means 'farsickness', as in the antonym for 'homesickness'. It is a word that the Germans would use to describe the longing for far-off unseen places and it is the word that I am going to use to describe what I'm feeling at the moment!

Nothing about being housebound has bothered me as much as the fact that I cannot actually travel anywhere to see new places. Oh, what I would give to book a last-minute deal, pack a small bag and bound off for a quick city-break, somewhere that isn't where I am at the moment!

Flying over the Hummingbird, Nazca Desert

Perhaps the Germans love to travel - they must do, otherwise why would they have so many travel-related words? I was born into an Indian community that has the travel bug too - the Bengalis.  Any corner of the world you to go to, you will be sure to find the ubiquitous Bengali (with or without their trademark monkey-cap these days - fellow Bengalis will know what I'm talking about!), taking in the wonders of that place with a sort of hunger that is possibly paralleled only by the Germans. 

I blame my parents really, particularly my mother, for my 'wanderlust' and 'sehnsucht' (there you go - some more magical German travel words). My father once said to me that it didn't matter how much you studied or how many degrees you acquired - if you hadn't travelled to new places and soaked in their culture, you hadn't really ever learned or acquired any wisdom. My mother was less prone to words and more to action, so she would pack our bags and set off with my siblings and me (with or without my father) to discover the wonders of the cultural treasure trove that is India. 

My mother (and son) in  Inis Oirr, Ireland - still up for a new trip!

My mother would take us to the mountains, she would take us to the sea and everywhere in between.Thanks to her, at the ripe old age of about seven or eight, I had seen for myself how amazingly talented the 5th century CE Buddhist mural painters of Ajanta were or how fantastic engineering capability of the 8th century CE rock-cut temple builders of Ellora must have been.  I was that annoying child in school, who would smugly say that she had seen first-hand whatever place the history or geography teachers were talking about in class. 

The 5th century Bodhisattva Padmapani mural, Ajanta Caves

My mother could never get enough of all these beautiful new places and nor could I. And this longing to see new places, meet new people, eat new food and hear new music has stayed with me ever since. With the world becoming smaller and travelling beyond your own shores easier, I have been able to spread my wings beyond the Indian sub-continent and visit other countries - seeing at least one new place every year.  

Machu Picchu - one off my bucket list

And that is really what I do right now - plan the next big trip with the family or the nippy city break with the girlfriends. I want to book those tickets, check out the best places to stay in. I want to make a list of all things to do there and chuck the list to one side once we get there and end up doing a whole lot of unplanned stuff. I want to step off that plane (or train or car) and take in that first deep breath of unfamiliar air, full of the promise of the exciting unknown. I want to explore the history of the place. I want to take in its natural beauty. I want to dig into its exotic culinary offering and drink new concoctions. And after I do all that, I want to come back home, rub the coating off from that new place on our 'scratch' world map and then begin the whole process all over again!

Here's to Fernweh, Wanderlust and Sehnsucht!

On the streets of Paris on a girlie weekend

Had to include this photo from my trip to Berlin, as I can't seem to stop talking about the Germans