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Motorcycling and the art of Travel meditation

The gush of wind, the sceneries of the world passing by, the roar of the engine, the road ahead and you. There is an immense amount of romantic freedom and solitude that motorcycling offers. The moment when you’re on the saddle, it’s just you alone with your thoughts. The sights, smells and souls that you experience on your journey are equally incredible. If you’re the one who believes that a journey matters more than the destination, then you should go take a tour on two wheels at least once in your life.

Motorcycling is kind of a meditation for me. Yes, obviously you can’t compare the two. But then what is meditation for a normal person, like me? A way to calm your inner self, right? A means to find solace with self, a sense of purpose to life. Meditation necessarily does not need to mean to sit at one place and peace out. While motorcycling, one does kind of get into a zone in their own head. Sometimes there are no thoughts, just the road ahead, and you and your bike going at a 100 kph, zipping around the countryside. Focus on the road as it turns and curves through this beautiful world.

I started motorcycling in 2014, and since then it has been an on and off thing for me. It all started with a sudden trip towards Coorg, Bandipur and Mysore to welcome the new year 2015, covering over 1200 km through Karnataka. Since then I have travelled my way through almost all of Karnataka on my “Screaming Eagle“. It has become the main medium for my escapades since then. Last Sunday, after a long gap of over a year, we headed for a 250km bike trip to Bheemeshwari and ride along the Kaveri. A trio of bikes and the five of us went cruising the roads. This bike trip brought back a lot of memories of my lost days of motorcycling. You feel, a sense of calm, a zen cruising the highways, curving through the ghats, riding at peace, living the moment.

It’s a strong emotion to connect to and truly a bit crazy. Well, after all, it is a series of explosions between your legs that keep the machine going ahead, cruising on the roads.

The beauty of motorcycling lies in living the present. You have to be alert, mindful, aware the whole time on the motorcycle. And that’s what separates it from any other mode of travel. It’s like living the present. The past is behind us and we are headed to the future, that’s what riding a motorcycle is like. Self-awareness, the presence of mind, the perseverance, endurance are some of the few things to learn from motorcycling

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