Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan, spent 29 years of his life travelling, and compiled a book called Rihla, still considered a valued document. Hsien Tsang took 17 years to reach India through the Khyber Pass, and recorded the journey that later helped experts discover ancient routes. Charles Darwin, apart from his On the Origin of Species, also penned The Voyage of the Beagle about his voyage on board HMS Beagle. The records later became pointers to a past when travel and trade was opening and civilisations were meeting.
Though not in the same legendary realm, Suresh Joseph, a 60-year-old who has travels spanning decades to his credit, has several thrilling stories to tell. They are about his journeys through diverse stretches across the globe, culture, humanity, and landscape, reflecting the grit of the human spirit. And in the era of the Internet, he uses a blog to narrate these stories. The blog goes by an unusual name — The Railway Man Who Sold His Maruti. “The title is because I worked for the Railways. I also owned a Maruti car that I sold. That car, my first, was dear to me, and hence the name of the blog,” he says.
But unlike Julian Mantel of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, who leaves a high-profile job and sombre life to reinvent himself, Joseph always found time to backpack and travel or ride through reclusive corners of the world, even while raising a family, keeping a demanding job with the Railways for 24 years, and then playing a pivotal role in setting up an international container trans-shipment terminal at Vallarpadam. He is now director with an infrastructure development company, where he has the flexibility to work for 10 months and travel for the rest.
His tours have fetched him one world and 13 national driving records, all acknowledged by the Limca Book of Records. Joseph is still raring to hit the road whenever possible, and urges people to globe trot, as much as possible, alone. Travelling that way, he says, is a time to soul search and discover oneself.
And his blog is his way of keeping his travel memories alive. A detailed script, it has a day-to-day account of his various trips, now mostly by road. “An older me now prefers the basic comfort offered by a four-wheeler, hence I embark on road trips more now as against the rampant backpacking trips that I have done before,” he says.
For someone looking to go on such trips, the blog has ample guidelines — the need to start early while on travel, and to wind up by afternoon to give enough room for rest as well as some intake of Nature, and the need to eat light, and sleep judiciously. It also reflects the camaraderie he shared with people he found on the way or stayed with, the colours of the cultures he’s criss-crossed, and how fully focussed on the joy of exploration a traveller should be to tide over obstacles.
The blog has another aim. “I may not be able to contact my family while on expeditions, but my blog tells them I am fine.” It has also helped him pen six books. “The books are not for sale. I give them free to those who love travels and travelogues.”
His next endeavour is to drive solo through Australia and New Zealand for 32 days on Highway 1, said to be the second longest highway in the world, and earn himself another record. He plans to do this trip in the summer of 2018 on a hired car. Fuelled by the freedom that open roads offer.