Toughest Choice For A Traveler - Mountains Or Seas?

Bags were packed, ready to roll,
"Coffee? Check! Camera? Check!"
Checked a forsaken soul.
It's been so long,
since he attend his last tryst.
Today, wanderlust will defeat
Files, budgets and the to-do list.
Days ago, he had a question buzzing in his mind,
" A new tape of seas or maybe mountains rewind?"
Settled for a remix: seas in eyes and the mount behind.

Whenever we plan a trip, we generally have one thing in our mind: Whether to go to a city, a hill station, a desert and etc. The world has got so much to offer to us. One can get lost in those crowded streets, can get find himself on that hilltop, can lose time for experience in those dunes of sand. This is the beauty of travelling. No matter where you travel, you will get your passports filled with visas, your albums and phones filled with photographs, and a memory of these adventures that will live with you forever.

If we talk about travelling in this era, you either travel like a tourist or like a traveler. But what's the difference? Let's say that these two terms change the way your trip proceeds. A tourist will visit a place that his friends and relatives have been through. There too, he will visit the sites that have high 'tourist' crowd. He will stay in a cozy hotel, will take charter cabs, will spend most of his time there relaxing.

But when a traveler packs his bag, he packs it for a travel. He chooses places that only a few people know. He prefers to be around nature there, and not other tourists. If he crashes heads with another traveler, then they can choose to travel together thereon. Travelers prefer to stay in hostels or tents. Not in a body-comforting room, but under the soul-comforting sky full of stars.

Travelers nowadays have taken sides, and that is reflected in their social media accounts. "Mountains over beaches" and vice-a-vis, can now be seen in any person's Instagram bio. Don't worry, your choice won't be criticized here. People have different likings. A mountain person might feel sea sickness, while a sea lover might fear the heights at a small cliff.

But imagine, you reach that peak, from where you can see the whole world right under your sight. When all you see is smaller than you. A cool breeze that kisses your cheeks is the cherry on top. You sit on a rock, take your camera out, try to capture the scene in it. Deep down, you know, only your eyes have saved the view in your mind. While you trek down, with your heart still high, you stop at a tea-stall to have a cuppa and the hill station special maggie. You talk to that vendor, you click a picture with him, because made your experience even more memorable. That's what mountains do to you.

In a parallel universe, you were at beach party. But this very hour requires your complete attention. So you pick a pint, you come out, and you start walking by the beach in the night. You see the Moon teasing the sea as it gives a piece of itself to the sea. The sound of the waves making this peace even more peaceful. You see an empty beach bed. You enter that luminescent shack, with only two people there. And now you three are sitting around a bonfire, with wine and beer around you, soft music just there and conversations like you have know them for years. And when you are about to call it a night, the shack owner says "We don't charge for experiences." And he hands you over a bill worth a billion smiles. That's what waves drown you in.

If I were to pick a side, I would anytime choose beach over mountains. I love it when water kisses my feet. I want to go back to that night when I took a walk by the sea, though there were others too, but with me was only me. I miss sunbathing and chugging pints while we sat on those beach beds.

Why?
Because:

Clocks showed eight,
The sky became yellow,
A perfect morning to start
the trip and to mellow.
Rushed to the beach,
We were ready for some tan.
"Pints, sunglasses, sand and waves"
Sounds like a perfect plan!

Standing in the shadow, giggling,
As the wet sand under our feet slips.
Tasting the salts of the sea,
As we count those distant ships.
Just took a dip, now I am a bit clean.
Let's lie on the sand again,
Let's treasure the marine.