NITIN CHAUDHARY Digging Where I Stand

They say that travelling is a great way to learn. However, we have inherently associated travelling with travelling far. But that need not be so, as I discovered this year. I was forced to reduce my range but I still found hidden local gems

I SIT BACK TO REFLECT on what all happened in the bygone year and how that will change the nature of travel for me (and perhaps for you) in the future.

Exactly a year back, I was celebrating the new year in Lisbon, walking the cobblestoned streets of the Alfama district, the most picturesque labyrinth that I had ever seen. I remember taking the bright yellow as censors—the 19th-century funicular system that Lisboetas used to go up and down the steep hills—standing shoulder to shoulder with the locals and jostling for space in the crowded tram. Gone are those days as we enter a new reality, which I suspect is here to stay for the years to come, if not forever.