Meaningful Travel In A Post-Covid World

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The situation with the covid-19 has forced everyone to literally and figuratively stay inside. It affects everyone in many ways, including the travel industry that has changed a lot since the pandemic. Tourism is predicted to turn back to how it was in the old times. Instead of modern vacation, it seems that more people are interested in taking a pilgrimage. The reason is that it feels more meaningful somehow. Should pilgrimage be religious? 

Meaningful Travel In A Post-Covid World

Pilgrimage, Oldest form of travel

Pilgrimage is considered the oldest form of travel. Should it be religious? The answer is not always. When you think about pilgrimage, you may need to put in in the context. In the past before millennia, people joined a community and together they went to the shrines collectively or individually giving offerings. The places they visited were sacred sites they believed inhabited by a deity, creator, or ancestors. Pilgrimage can be considered as a hyper meaningful journey where people try to find connection with what they believe is something greater than mere humans. Along the journey, they find something meaningful to remember and more motivated to transform in a good way. 

Non-religious pilgrimage

Today, pilgrimage is not always about religious experience. There are also some non-religious pilgrimages where people visit their ancestral home, sport pilgrimage where they visit football field, or follow trails that lead to historic sites. Those can be called pilgrimage but in a different form. Meanwhile, religious pilgrimages are usually related to some faiths and beliefs. For example, Hajj pilgrimage is when moeslems visit Kaaba in Mecca and perform various religious activities as it is part of the Five Pillars of Islam. However, religious pilgrimages have been limited due to the pandemic. And now with vaccination, many hope that the pandemic will be contained fully soon, making everyone able to travel. 

Pilgrimage trip post covid

Pilgrimage trip post covid

And for the post-covid travel, it seems that people can’t wait to have religious trip such as pilgrimages that can make them find something more meaningful. With the impact of covid-19, many people start to pause and rethink of what truly matters in their lives. It is the moment where they are able to stop rushing around commuting. Many people start to think about the values they want to pursue once the quarantine is over. Hence, it is predicted that many people want to have an experience of meaningful travel after pandemic ends. 

Remember that many people are affected by the pandemic financially, physically, and mentally. The pandemic has increased anxiety, depression, and isolation. Hence, it makes senses if many people want to find a connection through meaningful travel. They can find the connection with other people as well as to their Gods. It also says that people will try to connect more with the nature after being cooped up over a year in isolation. It is predicted that some places will be more popular than others such as lakes, mountains, beaches, etc. You may want to prepare yourself for a meaningful travel like pilgrimage once the pandemic is over so you find back your value and purpose. 

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