In the last decade or so, I have been able to travel extensively across much of Europe, Asia and the Americas. During my travels, I noticed how rare it was to find non-businessmen or non-pilgrim Pakistani travellers.

For example, in Europe, if you tell someone that you were a Pakistani on vacation, you are bound to get curious looks. They mostly (if not only) know about Pakistanis who have settled there or come only for quick business trips.

Every year, during my travels, I find less and less Pakistani rovers on the streets of Europe, the US and even in many Asian countries. The only ones you do see are those travelling to Dubai or maybe to Malaysia and Turkey.

Also read: Being a Pakistani abroad

However, I do come across a healthy number of Indian travellers.

It follows, naturally, that many of the people I meet across Asia, Europe and the US take me for an Indian too. This does bother me a little, because it brings to light the political and cultural perils of a nation and people that have just stopped travelling for leisure and for sheer travelling experience.

Wise men across history have rightly emphasised the need for travelling, especially in how it opens your mind to things, people and habits outside your own social and belief systems; and how this infuses an instinctive realisation in the traveller about the importance of plurality and tolerance; and how tiny, rigid and sometimes rather delusional the world of an isolationist is.