How I Stopped Traveling Too Much

In my younger days, I opted to quit my job and travel around the world, which I surely don’t regret.

However, I had to quit that way of living as well.

I could not bear to be a lifelong traveler and I chose to stop traveling too much!

Let me share why.

During my initial days, I enjoyed each day of my solo travel. By the age of 30, I had already visited 30 countries of the world, but I had started getting tired. My body was the worst sufferer than my mind. Even though I wanted to travel more as a fulltime traveler, I had started realizing that excessive journeying was taking its toll on my body.

I would frequently experience high and low blood pressure, and my heart beat would fluctuate too much. Whenever I took the all-inclusive meals on lucrative offers, I could not stop eating too much at the buffet breakfast. And whenever I would travel on budget, I had to suffice myself with cheap fast food options. On some days, I would try to calm my stomach with unhealthy snacks and chips. I knew that I was doing the wrong practices, but travel forced me to do it over and over again.

Traveling in an airplane is the worst experience of all my fulltime travel time. I just hate airplanes, but I cannot help taking a flight at times for long journeys. If the distance that I have to cover is 3000 kilometers, for instance, I would never use any car booking app to hire a Car Rental. I would surely look for the cheapest possible flight that would save me time and money. In my heart, I knew that I was exposing myself to harmful pathogens, for which my body was possibly not prepared. Still, I had to do it because I could not travel such an enormous distance by car on my own.

Being a solo traveler for life was not fun after a few years. The agonies of solo travel had started aggravating and I had already started thinking of living a regular life. I had to search for work in a new country almost every six months. If my employer knew that I would leave work in a few months, they would hesitate to hire me, which made it even more difficult to earn and live in an unfamiliar place. My savings were always meager and I was always desperate to find work, the stress of which would not let me enjoy my journey.

Irregular workout routine also harmed my body. Sometimes, I would start losing weight, and sometimes, I would start losing it quickly. It had began becoming difficult to understand my own body that I had nurtured for 20 years in India under the supervision of my lovely mom.

Finally, as I turned 30, I promised myself on my birthday that I would find a healthier life in Indonesia as it was the place where I found my heart belonged. Now, at 35, I can happily say that I don’t have any regrets in life, and I am enjoying running my hotel in a little island in Indonesia.

And I don’t intend to leave this lifestyle any time soon!  

How I Found Myself Addicted to Travel

I was having lunch with a colleague in office and scrolling through the news feed on Facebook. My friend, Nikhil, observed that I looked carefully at the pictures of people who had gone to a vacation. I was not interested in the poses they had made or the cute faces of their babies. I was more absorbed in the places in the background. I noticed each and every detail of the buildings or woods that lay behind the people. Nikhil was trying to have a conversation with me, but when he realized that I was more interested in Facebook, he quietly left after eating.

I apologized to him for not paying attention to him after I reached my seat.

He asked, “Are you getting itchy feet again?”

I nodded and started thinking of arranging my bike and clothes for my upcoming road trip.

“But you have just come from Africa?” he said.

“I know but I have already booked my tickets for Thailand” I said and smiled at him. I told him that I cannot live without traveling to a new place every month. I did not know this truth earlier, but I realized it a few months ago when I could not concentrate on anything in office.

I had become tired of getting restless after every trip, and then I observed that I am addicted to travel. As soon as I finish one trip, I come home thinking that I would sleep for at least a week out of tiredness. However, as soon as two days pass post the trip, I begin feeling irritated with everything. People with narrow mindedness frustrate me, I don’t like being around people with hermit-like tendencies, and I just cannot eat same food every day. I have tried so many recipes around the world that I try to make them at home as well, which in practice has made me a good chef.

One day, I found myself sleeping on a bench in a park near my home. I had come to the park with a family of toddlers. It was fun watching to toddlers for some time, but I was already tired from my month-long vacation in Bhutan. I was scrolling through the MyChoize Car Booking App to get an idea of the prices of the Car Rentals in Delhi. I did not realize when I fell asleep on the bench itself for an hour. When my friends returned from the garden after tending to their toddlers, they clicked photos of me and laughed over me for being a sleeping potato.

Incidents like this make me grasp that I have become a true traveler who does not need the luxuries anymore. There is a huge difference in the interior of my house before and now. Every room in my home used to be chaotic with loads of stuff, which I now understand that I don’t need anymore. I live a minimalistic life and I don’t need to buy expensive things to live a comfortable life.

I am happy to be a traveler at heart. And I intend to be like this for many more years to come!

How I Quit Homeschooling My Toddler

When I started homeschooling my 2.5 year old baby boy, Shaurya, I had never thought that teaching would be such a tough job. Since I was living in the USA at that time after visiting 26 countries with my husband, I thought of settling down there for a few years until Shaurya grows up. Since pre-school is very expensive in the USA, I decided to homeschool my kid until he is ready to enter the kindergarten, which would give me time to enhance my income.

The first few months of teaching him the alphabet were really awesome. I would often spend an hour or two on the internet learning how to teach the alphabet to my toddler. I didn’t mind spending the extra hours on my laptop to learn becoming a teacher myself, but the process became tough as Shaurya grew older. I had to spend more time in learning the teaching process myself, which started becoming frustrating. Moreover, I realized that I am not capable to homeschool him forever. I would have to either enroll him for online classes or send him to a regular school in the years to come.

Since I knew that the USA was not affordable at all in terms of buying a house, paying the school fees, and paying other bills, I decided to move to my home country, India. I have grown up in India and I know that there is a wide range of affordable schools here that I can afford for my kid. Even though I want to visit various countries and cities while bringing up a family, I want to be in a country where I can afford all my expenses.

Since my language interpretation work pays good money, I don’t have to worry about joining a regular office. However, Shaurya needs regular schooling at least for a few years in his early education.

We moved to India two years ago, and I decided to settle down in Delhi near my parents’ home. They are happy to have us here and I am content to know that I have someone when I need them to take care of my baby. I can leave Shaurya with them for a few days as I travel with my husband to different places for work and leisure. The setting makes it easier for Shaurya to not miss his school and we don’t have to miss travel either. We often use a car booking app to drive to and from their home and then go for a weekend trip.

The best part about regular schooling is that the kid gets to interact with other kids of his age, which contributes to his language development and social skills expansion. Since the day he has started going to kindergarten, he has shown tremendous growth in communicating with other kids in the neighborhood, even though the first few weeks were really tough for him.

I know that my travel dreams may remain slightly unfulfilled, but I don’t mind forgoing them for a few years for the sake of a better future of a baby that I have brought to this world. Until Shaurya grows up, we don’t mind becoming the weekend travelers, and we can resume our fulltime traveling when it is the right time.

How I Protect My Camera while Traveling

Whenever I think of traveling, I think of photos and then Instagram and then hashtags. I have clicked at least 5K to 6K finished photos until now, forget the raw ones, I cannot even count them. There was a time when I used to click photos using my smartphone for my blog. However, they were never too good to be uploaded on my website. Still, I had to be content with it because I could not afford a DSLR until college. And when I bought my favorite Nikon camera, I never knew that I would love it like my baby.

Now whenever I go out for a photoshoot, I have to take care of it all the time, but I don’t mind it at all. The first thing that I realized after buying it was that I have to have a good quality padded camera bag. My friend, Rohan, had lost his camera to a thief because his camera bag was too flashy I guess. He became an easy target for the thief and he swore that he would never buy such a bag again. And from that incident, I also learnt that I must buy a bag that doesn’t look like a typical camera bag. I have a sling bag that appears to be carrying books in it, and the look on the acquaintance’s faces is worth seeing when I take out a camera out of it.

The next thing that I do is to keep my camera with me all the time. When I fly, I never send the camera in the checked-in luggage. I don’t trust the airlines guys to handle my fragile things safely. I have seen them throwing even the bags with fragile notice without care. That is why; I keep my camera with me in my hand luggage.

Secondly, if I am driving my Car Rentals in Mumbai, which I often do for my professional photo shoots, I never keep the camera or the lenses inside the car. Yes, I can use the boot space to keep my valuables, but India is not a country to be trusted for the expensive stuff. The thieves here are the most clever breed of humans, and they are too smart to outsmart us. It is only in the emergency circumstances that I keep something valuable in the boot.

I used to love showing off the Nikon logo whenever I went for a shoot. The aspiring photographers especially love to notice their dream equipment with someone. I understand this feeling because I have also felt this for a long time. However, there were instances when the crooks also noticed the camera too.

Thankfully, I have never been robbed, but a few instances like this changed my perspective and I have started hiding the branding on my camera. Every Nikon logo on the camera or the equipment is now hidden under the black duct tape.

I know I might be overprotective for my camera, but I have been able to afford it after a long time of saving money during college. I don’t want to lose it too soon because I have seen veteran photographers taking care of their gear like I do.

Why My Wife is My Best Travel Partner

As they say, everything in the world seems rosy and gorgeous when you have a good life-partner. And the same beautiful things seem worst when the partner is not compatible with you. This article is not about marriage or compatibility, but how and why I like to travel with my wife. I have seen incompatible couples who cannot stop arguing throughout the day, no matter they are out for a vacation or they are at home.

Even I have my arguments with my wife, Reina, but we both have a mutual understanding to solve the matter as soon as possible. Ideally, it should take us more than a day to solve the serious matters, and the trivial things should not stretch beyond and hour. Thankfully, we both have the brains to quickly calm down when we are angry and the matters do not stretch beyond the line. Nonetheless, here are the other reasons why I love traveling with her:

Traveling style

We have the same expectations from our vacations, which is why it becomes easy to take decisions. Concerning accommodations, for instance, we like to stay in luxury hotels when the city doesn’t have many options to do activities or the places to visit. We like to take a luxurious room in a beautiful resort when we just want to relax for a day or two.

On the other hand, we book a room in the cheapest accommodation available when there are numerous activities to do at our destination. When we were in Bali for our honeymoon, even then we didn’t spend lavishly on the hotel rooms. Still, every resort in Indonesia is gorgeous, no matter the price. Even though we spent all the day roaming around the city, we could be at leisure once we returned to the hotel in the evening.

Food habits

Both of us are non-vegetarians, so we do not hesitate to experiment with foods wherever we are in the world. We have tried eating different types of seafood in India and abroad. I can eat seafood anywhere in the world, but Reina prefers to have it only at the seaside because she likes it fresh without the stink on her platter. When we had hired Car Rentals in Goa, we explored several restaurants in the north and south while exploring the beaches and museums. Even though she is not a hardcore non vegetarian person like me who likes meat every day, it is easy to be with her over the meals. We can order one thing and share it rather than ordering things separately and overdoing our budget.

Photography

I was never a photo-freak person, neither I am now. Still, since the day I have met Reina, she has made me fond of getting clicked. I can be satisfied in just a couple of pictures, she has to get snapped at least a dozen times before saying OK. Yes, it does get irritating at times to snap so many times, but it is fine at the end of the day.

After all, it is the overall compatibility that matters!

How I Stay Fit and Healthy in India on My Holiday

Whenever I go for a long vacation in India, my first concern is to stay healthy throughout my stint. Even though I have got habitual to take precautions, I still have to be mindful about it. The best thing to do when I am in India is to take adequate rest. If I am not properly rested, I have to stress myself to travel around, which must be a delightful activity otherwise. On the other hand, if I am fresh in my mind, everything I do becomes a pleasure to do.

The next thing that I find a must-do for myself is to be wary of the food and water that I consume. I can take more care about the food than water because everything that is served on my plate is cooked from water whose purity is never guaranteed. When I came here for the first time, my immune system was not prepared for everything that I had consumed out of sheer taste and greed. It is easy to overeat in India because the new delicacies that they serve are so delicious that you cannot say no to it. However, you have to take care about the amount you can digest, especially the desserts made at home.

The gulab jamun, for example, is so delectable that I could not refuse it when my friend’s mom served it one after another. I ate six gulab jamuns in one go as they felt light on my stomach, and were so soft that I gobbled down six in a row. Everyone around me laughed at my act, but they cheered as I ate more and more. Hospitality in India is incredible, but it can take you to the hospital!

Thank God, I did not have to visit the hospital that night, but I swear I had to spend the entire night with my hand at my stomach, and frequent visits to the toilet!

I had booked the Car Rentals in Delhi for the next day to travel to Jaipur with my friend, whose mom was the chef the previous night, but we had to postpone our plans for the day. After that day, is swore to myself to never do overeating in India, no matter how much someone cheers for me or forces me. Now whenever I visit someone’s home for a meal, I eat my food deliberately slowly so that no one refills my plate unless I ask for it.

Another favorite thing to do in India is to carry a plastic bowl and a knife with a cover in my bag. I am not a fan of fruit that is cut already for sale on the stalls. But I like to eat fresh fruits, so I buy them from the vendors readily available everywhere in India, wash them thoroughly until I am satisfied, cut them on my own, and eat them fresh. I take watermelon and similar fruits to the hotel, cut them there, refrigerate them, and then eat them.

Maintaining health and boosting immunity in India has now become a habit, which is never going to leave my mind. Therefore, I don’t mind visiting India at all, even it is for a year now.

How I Worked on India Travel Photos

There is a world of difference between where I used to be on the social media and where I am now. While doing travel photography, I always wondered that despite having good photos of great locations, why am I not able to attract audience on Instagram and Facebook? I got the answer during a travelers’ conclave in Delhi where I got an opportunity to meet dozens of travel bloggers, many of whom were doing great in their field. Let me share what I gained from the kind bloggers during that meeting.

Don’t underestimate India

A blogger very rightly said that I must never underestimate India for the photo opportunities. There are millions of places and people whom I can click, edit, and publish. It dawned on me that day that even though I stay in a developing country, I still have a lot to see in my country. I had, by then, traveled to a few foreign countries, and was still not satisfied. One more thing is that it takes a lot of money to travel abroad, while I can suffice with relatively less money in India. I decided to expand my photography in my home country, and the results were awesome. Since then, I have traveled to at least 30+ cities in India, and I still have a long list of places to visit.

The time of the day

I had always been lazy about waking up early in the morning, but my fellow bloggers told me not to be a lazy bum and wake up as soon as possible to explore Delhi. They told me to go to Old Fort, Pragati Maidan, Connaught Place, etc. I must confess that these places were awesome after sunset and before sunrise. Just by waking up early and reaching my photo destination an hour before the perfect time, I could plan my photo shoot. I shot the Char Minar when I was working for shooting Car Rentals in Hyderabad. There is a lot to learn about a place when you shed the laziness.

The tripod

A good quality tripod was a great investment for my work. I could do the twilight shoots at ease without having to worry about a blurred shot. The landscape shoots on my Instagram page are a hit just because of that tripod that I now carry everywhere. I has helped me to escape the deadly trend of clicking selfies as well. I don’t like to click a picture with my nose protruding into it, and now I just tell someone to stand with me when I set up my phone on the tripod.

Funny scenes

India is full of funny scenes and people doing humorous acts, especially in the small cities and villages. The western audience is particularly fond of seeing that side of India that amuses them. I don’t mean to disgrace my country, so I try to show the beautiful, as well as, the humorous side of it in the photos.

I give all the credit in the enhancement of my work to my fellow bloggers and photographers. I still look forward to upscale my work even more in the years to come.