This Is ME
How it started?
A decade back if someone asked what travel meant to me, without as much as a thought I would say – an escape.
Growing up ‘travel’ wasn’t on my mind. When I finally started to travel, I believed it was a race – against time, against FOMO, against that one friend who’d already been to 47 countries and just ticking off a checklist!
My holidays were a chaotic montage of crowded attractions and missed meals. I’d return to Mumbai spiritually bankrupt, wondering why I needed a vacation from my vacation.
Then, something unexpected happened. I had a quiet revolution. Right there, in the middle of my chaos.
And all I had to do is pursue my postgrad thesis in human-elephant conflict. That one trip to Malaysia that changed everything.
I discovered the joy of being in nature! I wasn’t chasing anything, I had surrendered to the flow. During one data collection trip, I was 15 kms inside the wilderness of Belum-Temenggor rainforest. No network, completely disconnected from the outside world for three days, I was breaking bread with the Orang Aslis – a Malaysian indigenous community. Sparse electricity, no fan, in fact no comfortable bed and a toilet about 500 metres away from the open kindergarten that turned into our sleeping quarters for three days, I never felt that kind of tranquility ever. In the mysterious mist that floated across the green canopies, in the patter of the raindrops that fell on thatched roof, in the synchronized encore of the amphibians and relentless hum of insects was the best lullaby that put to sleep for a good 14 hours – the most fulfilling longest undisturbed sleep of my adult life!
How's It Going?
It was simple. It was repetitive. And somehow, it was exactly what I needed.
For the first time in years, my overstimulated mind stopped screaming. I began to notice things my former, hurried self would have sprinted right past: the way sunlight spilled across terraced fields, the whisper of wind through pine trees, the tiny, almost invisible details carved into a wooden door. I wasn’t just observing anymore. I was connecting.
It was about carving out a quiet space inside my own head, a place where I could simply be, without the pressure to perform or produce. A space for genuine presence.
As my travel index grew, so did the evolution of my priorities – slowly, messily, and without a manual. Fast travel gave way to slow. International itineraries stepped aside for local discoveries. Perishable thrills were replaced by something more sustainable. The more I learned on this winding journey, the more conscious I became, not just of where I was going, but of what I was leaving behind.
With every trip, I carried back more than souvenirs. I brought back lessons, laughter, and occasional thrill. And I’ve tried, through my writing, to pass all of it on – so my readers can live the chaos through my words, learn something useful, and maybe avoid repeating my more questionable decisions.
Why this blog?
Travel information is everywhere. And nowhere. Scattered blogs, outdated forums. You’ll find seventeen conflicting blog posts, a TikTok that’s mostly aesthetic vibes, a forum thread from 2012, and exactly zero official visa websites. I got tired of the chaos, so I decided to build one roof. One corner of the internet where all of this chaos could live—neatly, usefully, and with opinions attached.
This space is my honest take on places – some that are drowning in tourists while others are begging for a single visitor to show up. I have thoughts about both. And I’m not afraid to share them.
I want to shine a light on stays hosted by locals (for their visibility, not mine), share walking tours of every flavour, flight deals that don’t feel like a bait-and-switch, travel hacks, and those secret, off-grid corners hiding inside even the most over-travelled countries, local events, and those maddening visa processes that somehow hide the official site in plain sight.
Consider this your clutter-free corner of the travel internet. No fluff. Just stories, opinions, and things that actually help.
