Nothing in life gives you experiences better than solo travel!
If travel is a teacher, solo travel is a life-changing experience! Sometimes, you just gotta take a leap in life, and that’s exactly what Aakanksha did!
“2 months ago, I met an 80-year-old Dutch woman on a flight who was on her 41st trip to India. In conversations, I learnt that her 1st trip was at 50! It was then she’d realized that she never really explored the world for what it was & packed her bags to never look back! It reminded me of the first time I went to Udaipur… Papa is in the army & so we moved across states but for me, to travel solo, was a huge no in the house.
So, when I moved out for college, I worked on 3 internships while studying & saved every penny and at 19, I flew down to Udaipur. And you know, the way you manage your way from the airport to the hotel & figure your meals on the way? It really changes you! And that’s why, after that, I saved & took every chance I had to go out! And over the years, while completing my education & working through jobs, I traveled extensively & even documented my work on the internet! And all along, I even met people who taught me so much!
Like in Sri Lanka, I met a 34-year-old German woman who, like me, was working remotely. Together, we traveled on the tuk tuk that I’d rented. Now, if you meet someone at a club who is 12 years older, you might not bond with them that well. But when you meet while traveling, you experience things similarly despite your differences.
But despite it all, my parents were worried about my safety. So I sat them down & spoke about what I loved & more importantly, how I’d kept myself safe. It took some time but they came around. And in fact, during the lockdown, I moved to Goa to work remotely. I’d hike in the morning, work during the day, & edit my content at night! It was surreal!
Brands had approached me & just a few months back, I even gave a TedTalk! But even then people said things like, ‘You’ll get married in a few years, you can’t just continue traveling! Hold on to your corporate job!’ But then, I did the complete opposite- I quit my job & focused on my travel!
Today, I’m monetizing my travels fully because I know I can always have a job but these experiences that I have… on top of the mountains, & deep in the oceans, & over the soft grasses, those are for now & I want to live it all- right NOW!”
Being India’s biggest storytelling platform, Humans of Bombay is all about bringing you extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Today, we bring you this solo travel story to inspire you the explore the world! If you’d like to read more such stories, check out our book and dive into the diverse tales of a country with billion beating hearts!
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