(PDF) Life Events and Travel Behavior

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Travelling fills life with experience, good memories and wonderful stories. It is a lifestyle
for some people, however some travel for different reasons. I remember the time when
everybody around me use to make frequent trips around the world. They always gave me
inspiration to travel. But I was a very shy person. This is why I never went out in public, but one
day when I was sitting in my room, lost in my own thoughts about what am I really doing with
my life? That is when I decided that I need to go out and see the world.
I thought about discussing it with my friends, but I was not sure if they would understand
what rage I am feeling. It was time to leave everything behind, my insecurity, my fears, my old
life and old me. This is when I decided to go on a solo trip to Oman. I searched various activities
that people of my age were doing. That is when I came across adventure travelling. There were
so many adventures activities to like desert camping, scuba diving, cliff climbing, etc. which
gave me an adrenaline rush. I got so excited for the trip. Then after, I started with the basic things
like hotel bookings, buying a city map, and similar stuff. It was my first solo trip so I was really
nervous.
The final Day
It was the final day when I had to leave my home and comfort zone and get out to explore
the world. I hop on in my car and left for the airport to start my journey. It was a boring long 12
hours flight journey from Australia to Oman. I was wondering how am I going to spend 12 hours
in this flight. Suddenly, a voice came from my left seat, “travelling for the first time?” it was a
guy equal to my age young and enthusiastic.
I smiled, “Yes, it is my first trip to Oman.”
That's great, “initiating a hand shake” John, he introduced himself.
Nice meeting you, I'm Steve.
We talked throughout the trip and ended up exchanging number. It felt amazing as I made
a new friend. I could feel myself overcoming my shyness and insecurity about making new
friends. John was also on adventure journey, so we decided to get along. After landing at the
airport me and John booked a taxi and went to the hotel. John booked another room in the same
hotel.
Next morning, we ate breakfast and discussed where to travel on our first day of trip. We
agreed for going on site seeing to know more about the city. I suggested to book a cab for whole

day so that a local traveller can show us around, however John had another plans. He suggested
that we should go through public transport as that will help us to know more about the city. I was
a little nervous as Oman was a new city and I did not wanted to get lost. But John was a traveller,
he has travelled to so many countries that he knew how to tackle these affairs.
After travelling in the city and exploring beautiful site seeing locations, I explored so
much about their culture and beliefs much inspired me to know more about them. That is when
John said that we should go for dessert night camping. Living in Australia, I knew that I would
never get a chance to get such wonderful experience. I agreed that we should definitely go. After
searching more about night camping, I cam to know that there were so many beautiful hotels that
were offering night camping in desert. I was very aflutter for the event. Near by 8 O'clock in the
evening, we reached the camping location. There were so many people that have came to get
similar experience. The event started with serving exotic local dishes that were so rich in
flavours. I came across so many different food items that I have never heard or ate before. Then,
a local Oud performance started where locals play music with their local instruments along with
singing. It took the night camp to a new level.
I have never seen anything like this in my whole life. This took me into deep thinking
about how there are so many people in the world having different cultures and beliefs. Yet we all
are so similar. It made me realise that happiness is all about these little things we do in our life.
That night I made few more friends which made me feel whole. The city was not strange to me
any more, I had new friends. After spending night in a desert camp, we moved ahead with our
trip.
It was time for scuba diving with sharks in deep ocean of Oman. As I have lived in
Australia, I have been spending time on beaches surfing and sun bathing but I have never went
on scuba diving with sharks. I was little scared as they are not really friendly and I have heard so
many bad stories about them. But then I thought that I should give it a try as I have came this far
and coming over my insecurities, this was a new opportunity. I went on scuba diving but it was
not like I imagined. The sharks were friendly which changed my perspective about these wild
fishes. I figured out that things are not really as I have been thinking about them.
Another day passed and it was my last day of the trip. It is when John said that we should
definitely go for cliff climbing and Oman is one of the most preferred location for the respective
activity. I immediately said no. John was concerned about my reaction so he asked me about the

reason of saying no. That is when I told him about my biggest fear from heights. I was so scared
of height that I didn't even wanted to take a chance. However, John assured me it is not risky as
safety is assured by professional tools and if I'm really scared of heights, this is my final chance
to get rid of such fears. Though I was not sure, I still said yes.
We started climbing the cliff, I was so scared that I was shivering. That is when John solace me
climb the cliff. He gave me a useful tip which was “don't look down while climbing the cliff, it
will help” His little tip worked wonders for me. As I started climbing, I got my confidence
boosted. After reaching top of the cliff, I felt overwhelmed. It made me felt like I have conquered
the world. I never felt that confident and motivated in my life. I felt like I am getting clarity in
my life.
This trip changed my life completely. It boosted my confidence and made me a complete new
person. I finally know my capabilities because of the risk that I took in Oman trip. Now I have so
many good memories, experience of life and good stories to tell my friends and family. This was
the most memorable trip of my life and I will definitely go out and explore rest of the world to
understand more aspect about different culture, beliefs and lifestyle. More importantly, I will
definitely go understand different perspectives of life.