Travellers not tourists!

Following long days of stress and tiredness, we have our first full day as travellers. Not tourists, travellers.

Refreshed from our post flight nap, we decided to roam Stone Town. Usually we would have a list of things we definitely want to see and an idea of when we have to see them. That is what you have to do as a tourist to be able to take it all in. But we no longer have to. We are travellers and we can simply roam around and take our time. The novelty seems to please us.

From now on we no longer need to rush through anything if we don't want to. We are free to take our time by the cafe and discover new smells and tastes without worrying about wasting time. We are free to engage in long conversations over any and everything with anybody without having the feeling we have to be somewhere else. To sit and watch the people around us live their lives. To contemplate on what brings us together and on what makes us different.

We manage our time as we want without having a plane, bus or train waiting to take us back.

We are travellers, not tourists, I can't help but repeating to myself silently.

A used to tell me that she dreamed of being a traveller. Of roaming around and exploring new things. I now see what she meant. She dreamt of freedom. She dreamt of doing things her own way, at her own pace and according to her own design.

A is now officially a traveller. And so am I!