It isn’t just travel for travel’s sake anymore; in fact, it hasn’t been for a while. Some vacationers now scurry half way around the world for affordable medical treatments in therapeutic environs, while others want in on the space race. Many are teaming travel with philanthropy and still others are on a spiritual journey. Wanderlust has taken on a whole new meaning.

Spaced out
The world has certainly not been enough for a while, what with people increasingly fascinated by what lies beyond the final frontiers. Okay, quoting cheesy flicks aside, space travel has occupied the imagination of futurologists for decades. Suborbital space stations are reportedly being built at California, New Mexico, Alaska, Esrange in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Dennis Tito, an American scientist, became the first fee-paying space tourist when he visited the International Space Station (ISS) for seven days in 2001. The Virgin Galactic, modelled on SpaceShipOne which is now on display at the Smithsonian, offers space explorers a chance at suborbital travel. With three days of pre-flight preparation and some medical checks, it only takes a few hundred thousand dollars to be a cosmonaut now. Though tickets have been selling since mid-2005, Virgin Galactic is in no rush to launch but it does promise that the two-and-a-half hour ride, sees ‘astronaut passengers’ on the spaceship hitch a ride up to 50,000 feet attached to a specially designed carrier called the mothership. Once here, the spaceship is released from the mothership and begins a climb to over 360,000 feet reaching speeds about 3 times that of sound. And as Virgin reps explain the eerie sense of quiet inside the spacecraft, you can’t help but recall the Alien tagline, ‘in space, no one can hear you scream’.

Resource: http://www.virgingalactic.com/ – Offers a rather tempting insight into suborbital travel and makes $200,000 seem like a paltry sum to cough up for the latest travel fad.

Health beckons
From travelling doctors to travelling patients, the health industry has long come into its own in developing nations. Citizens of the developed world have increasingly been asking themselves why they pay a fortune for mediocre treatment at home. Now, more than ever, people are willing to jet-set across the world for more affordable medical treatment. The trend isn’t entirely new. Offshoring of records for maintenance and x-ray analysis have been common and America, for instance, always saw people hopping across the border to Mexico for nip-tucks. But realising that countries in Asia and South America rival the health industry abroad, at a fraction of the cost, the West has seen a huge surge in globetrotting patients. Last year when I was shopping at a Banana Republic outlet in New York, a salesgirl at the counter, told me about her friend who was coming to India for stomach stapling and liposuction and saving tens of thousands of dollars in the process. The Wockhardt chain in India for instance is doing especially well for itself. Other countries leading on the prognosis front include Israel, Brazil, Thailand and Poland. What’s more, there are now medical tourism packages available that combine post-operative vacations with healthcare.

Resource: http://www.indiamedicaltourism.net/ - Despite tempting health-travel packages, it’s always important to read the fine print and consult with experts in the field.

Philanthropic pursuits
At the Hands of Mercy Orphanage in Buswelu, Tanzania, volunteers teach children English to help them secure a better job. Ayesha Dinshaw, a Middlebury graduate who just volunteered there, also ensured that the children got their daily quota of nutrition, helped with plans for a new orphanage building and raised funds for tuition. “Many of the children have inherited diseases from their mothers and have parents who have died of AIDS. Some were abandoned or left at the orphanage but the children are not self-pitying, self-conscious or sad. Medical expenses and the costs of running the orphanage are a concern and some discomforts are to be expected since the volunteer contribution is low, but it was pretty luxurious compared to local standards. A definite perk were our Masai warrior guards, who slept on the porch during the day and protected us at night,” says Ayesha. The experience, while difficult, is rewarding and has been a growing trend. With the vast yet intangible benefits of giving back, there have been an increasing number of people the world over, putting their disposable income to good use, combining travel and the experience of a different culture with social service.

Resource: http://www.kidsworldwide.org/ - Involves an application procedure and a small deposit but there is no middleman between them and Hands of Mercy.

Pilgrims progress
Trips to Petra, Rome, Varanasi, and Jersualem are commonplace. Travellers go there driven by some existential crisis, in quest of spirituality, to reaffirm their faith, or just to see what the fuss is about. Slightly more demanding is the Japanese archipelago Shikoku, with its 88 temple pilgrimage, temples that are associated with the priest Kukai, founder of the Shingon or ‘true word’ school of Buddhism. About 300,000 henro or pilgrims are believed to visit the temples each year in their unique hakui or white coats and sugegasa, conical straw hats. Visitors usually buy a tsue or staff that symbolises Kukai, with the words ‘we two walk together’, painted on it in Japanese characters, reminding visitors that they always have their spiritual guide to rely on. Sometimes walking pilgrims are given o-settai or gifts to help them along their journey. Spiritual tourists can finish the visit in about 12 days on bus and cycle routes, but for those following in traditional footsteps, the pilgrimage can take up to 60 days with henro walking about 25 kilometres a day. Of course, you can kick back in the hot spring baths at Shikoku once you’re done with the gruelling journey.

Resource: http://www.japantravelinfo.com/ - Sign up for a demanding but rewarding journey of self-realisation.

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