Why I Drink To Travel

Even Teetotallers Will Agree That Journeys Are More Fun When You Take the ‘high’ Road

- Sudha Pillai

Beer, it is said, predates bread, and so it is perhaps with good reason that alcohol is called aqua vitae or ‘living water’. The word ‘alcohol’ comes from the Arabic word ‘Al-Khul’ (Khul or khol means powdered eye paint), and it was only in the 18th century that people began referring to alcohol the way we do. The purists like to call it the “body eating spirit.” I, for one, think of it as a tipple that frees one’s spirit from the fetters of reticence. A spontaneous spirit is vital for a traveller, and the ale is just an able aid.

I am a teetotaller (98 per cent of the time), but when I have my travelling shoes on, no matter where I am in the world, I invariably gravitate towards the bar long after the sun goes down. For it is here, over a drink, that strangers become momentary or life-long friends. Candour becomes the password and camaraderie rules the roost. Skeletons waltz out of closets and everything kosher soon becomes alien. The bar is where I meet people who are twice the fun than those who are not. Language is no barrier here, and I get to revel in stories that range from the bizarre to the mother-of-bizarre.