I have been sitting on this post for around a
week now deciding whether or not I felt happy talking so openly about what I have
been feeling over the last month. Right now I am feeling pretty good, so it’s
as good a time as any to talk about this…
It’s been over a month now since I have arrived
in India and it’s fair to say that I have already had my fair share of
adventures. However running parallel to the thrill of new experiences is an
undertone of missingness and at times some very low emotions. Travelling to a
country like India is always billed to be a life changing experience that is
one constant journey of discovery and personal development. It is sold as a
package must for any young “traveler” along with destinations like Thailand,
Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, Peru and other “Gap year” Hotspots.
One of the catalysts for these emotions is the
fact that society dictates that I should not feel this way. “travel has
long been associated with masculine values of adventure and self-realization,
travel seems to epitomize ‘heroic life’” (Larsen, 2008.) I feel under pressure
to conform to societal norms that
are dictated by my peers as well as in troves and troves of travel literature. Despite it being glossed over a lot in social
and travel media, the impact and understanding of these emotions has been
greatly researched by academics. A quick search on Google Scholar showed up a
400pg book on the psychology of culture shock amongst many other peer reviewed
articles. I didn’t bother reading the book myself, but if you are interested a
digital copy can be found here.
It’s a cliché but to be honest
it must be said that for me it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. It’s only
been a month yet there have been times I have longed for a bowl of cornflakes
so damn much that it has physically hurt! The concept that an army marches on
its stomach is one that I now whole heartily buy into. Since arriving in
Rishikesh over 2 weeks ago I have eaten rice for 3 meals a day without
variation. That’s around 50 meals that have consisted of rice, Daahl, Chapatti
and some form of vegetable curry. It got to a point around about a week ago
that the action of opening up the cooking pot genuinely made me feel depressed.
I was eating for the sake of eating and It gave me no enjoyment what so ever.
It may sound trivial to people that haven’t experienced something like this but
for me this had a holistically negative effect.
 |
| Breakfast, dinner and tea. |
I am lucky that I am sharing this journey with
3 other incredible students from UCLan which means there are other people that
understand what I am going through which is an encouragement in its self. I’m
sure they won’t mind me saying but they have all over the past month had times
when they have really struggled. We each have different triggers for these
things and we each have our own way of coping.
There will be well travelled
individuals that may read this and think that they have never experienced “culture
shock” or even felt a little down whilst travelling. Then congratulations you either have a better affinity to adapt than me or post travel you only look back on the positives. I don’t
necessarily see this as a weakness on my part but a process that must be
undertaken to fully appreciate the value of what I have, both here in India as
well as back in the UK. Looking back the first week could be described as a
honeymoon period. The novelty of the surroundings outshone the feeling of
displacement. The act of crossing the road, eating with my right hand and
wiping my arse with my left were at first all part of this novel experience.
Once this feeling wore off I found myself in a bit of a rut due a desire to
extend the honeymoon period by seeking out new experiences. As this failed along with the lack of
structure I began to feel quite depressed for awhile. It wasn’t a case of
missing home. It wasn’t a case of not liking India. It was as if I were suspended somewhere
in between. I found it difficult to trust people always thinking the worst
during those couple of days. The concept of “culture shock” however is now
considered to provide the foundation for development as a dynamic experience,
both for students and members of the host culture. (Klineberg, 1982)
Just as quickly as it began the
feelings began to dissipate and I once again found myself as happy and as
chipper as my usual self and I really must say I am absolutely in love with my life
in India. I would be naïve to suggest that I won’t feel like this again at some
point over the next eleven months but at least I will know that its only
temporary and I know how to deal with it. For me whilst in Rishikesh that means
coming up with a little simple plan at the start of each day. Something that I
want to achieve. Something with limited influence from external factors. This
is my own way of staying in control each day. These things can be as simple as
learning a couple of new Hindi words, updating my blog or even just going to
the shop to buy some food.
Its a little bit different from previous entries that I have made on the blog but this is just as important as any trip or expedition that I go on in the next 11 months.
Thanks for reading.
Bochner, S. (1986). Coping with unfamiliar
cultures: Adjustment or culture learning?. Australian Journal of
Psychology, 38, 347–58.
Klineberg, O. (1982). Contact between ethnic
groups: A historical perspective of some aspects of theory and research. In S. Bochner(Eds.), Cultures
in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction, 45–55.Oxford: Pergamon.[CrossRef])
Larsen, J. (2008). De‐exoticizing
tourist travel: Everyday life and sociality on the move. Leisure
Studies, 27(1), 21-34.
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