Maverick At Heart
Growing up travel wasn’t on my mind. Despite the “mandatory vacations” that my family indulged in, it wasn’t something I would look forward to. I tasted the first freedom of travelling alone when I had to fly to Hong Kong for work. From filling the 10 page Visa Application form (I was going there on work-visa), flying alone with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur, taking a cab to an accommodation in an entirely new country, heading out to buy groceries, animatedly asking locals for directions (due to language barrier), taking the local means of travel to work everyday, exploring the nooks and corners of the country, trying local food – every detail of the trip shaped the type of traveller that I was about to become……Fearless and unapologetically someone who likes to travel alone but won’t mind kindred spirits.
Although a beginning like that would mean rampant travelling, it wasn’t the case with me. I was still cocooned. Wasn’t until I met the best travel buddy (now my husband) who encouraged me to step outside the confines of my “comfort zone”. And that was that! A push that I turned into a “shove” when it came to travelling. And travelling with my pets have been a blessing and I try to include them in my travels as much as they enjoy being in mine.
As my travel index kept growing, my travelling priorities changed – from fast to slow, from international to local, from perishable to sustainable; the more I learnt on this journey, the more I became conscious of my choices and what I wish to leave behind. With each travel opportunity I have brought back lessons and memories that I try and share with my readers so that they live my experience through words and in turn learn something and pass on. From being chased by an elephant as we interrupted his meal, to living in a Malaysian forest with Orang Asli tribes for my thesis study, to my very first solo trip to Varanasi during Dev Deepavali which was an ocean of human population during that time – every travel sequence has always had a significant lesson to offer. And this is what I intend to share with the readers.
That’s all for now!
Keep checking the site for more updates on travel.
Happy reading!