Bini Dahal

Getting to see beautiful pictures of different destinations within Nepal has been bliss for me and many others. These kinds of travel are not just made to flex on social media but to support and enhance mental and physical wellbeing of individuals. The most evident change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in Nepal’s tourism sector. And that is a switch from a well-established international tourism to a growing domestic tourism.

There is no denying that internal tourism has become a saviour for the country’s tourism sector today. Just before the start of the coronavirus, our tourism industry mostly revolved around the efforts to attract more and more foreign tourists. Tourism indeed has been a great business with many people getting both direct and indirect jobs. But, the pandemic has hit the tourism industry hard. However, the country is now receiving some international tourists with the vaccination against COVID-19 gaining pace.

The coronavirus has also made the country realise that there is also a good and strong domestic tourism base. With more and more Nepali people using mobile phones and subsequently connected through social media, different locations within the country are getting popularised. It has become a trend for people to go there during their leisure times.
I am truly amazed to see how a growing population of youngsters makes the effort to go on travelling and hiking to various parts of Nepal. This can be considered as a slowly growing process as travelling in the yesteryears was meant mostly for religious purposes. But today, it means so much to us. It has become a part of self and group growth and development. Activities like group travelling are beneficial for like-minded people to strengthen their bonds. And solo travelling has become a medium for people to reconnect with themselves and find their purpose in life.

The present generation highly understands and adheres to travelling for breaking free from a highly monotonous and rigorous lifestyle. Not just for passing leisure time, it has become a necessity for everyone to gain different experiences and feel enriched. This indicates a changing culture of work-work with no play. Now, it’s more concerned with balancing both work and play.
As part of self-reflection, I sometimes question what I have gained from spending hundreds and thousands of hard earned money. After all, I am just going to see a lake or a mountain. But I myself have the answer to this introspection. I have realised that the destination could be anywhere, but the whole process of reaching there is the real fun and proper experience. And we live for it.

Also having lived in concrete for most of our lives, we have forgotten to appreciate the exquisite nature. The beauty of nature is simple and clear for us to perceive. But our robotic lives have failed us from doing so. Because learning is a lifelong process and there is no better teacher than travelling, we should opt for more travelling. It is like hitting two birds with one stone, as individual development and societal development goes hand in hand through tourism. Therefore, let’s also make an extra effort to travel (to our best abilities) to support someone economically, directly or indirectly.