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How solo traveling has got me addicted to evolvement

1/16/2018

I often come across this question - "Why do I travel solo". Solo traveling for me is not a style-statement. I started traveling solo after various failed attempts in planning trips with friends. And more importantly failed executions on trips because each one had a different purpose to travel. Some friends wanted to get drunk and high on trips, some friends wanted attention from the opposite sex in the group, some friends wanted to enjoy swimming pool in a resort and some wanted to spend hours in the room dressing up before venturing out. When I realised that my purpose was not aligned to any of these, I was forced to travel solo. I have an unmatchable level of energy on my travels. Solo traveling eventually became a way of life for me.

1, I realised I’m responsible for my own happiness

With lot of importance given to codependent relationships in our society, most of us fail to understand that nobody else is responsible for your happiness except you. Being forced to believe in codependency, I too had a hard time learning this through my solo travels. Being constantly surrounded by people in my regular life - friends, colleagues, family, I never got a chance to realise this. When I started traveling solo surrounded with strangers everywhere, when I had some travels gone wrong, when I had to take charge of everything around me, in strange lands, I learnt taking responsibility for my own happiness.

2. I started respecting every individual

Earlier, the only people I used to connect with were the ones who shared similar interests as me (sports, dance, outdoors) and would talk a similar language (sarcasm, logic) as I did. I completely ignored the rest of the world. I’m glad that traveling taught me the importance of every individual on planet. Because I traveled solo, I had to rely on the locals a lot to understand their region. They neither spoke my language (sarcasm) neither did they dance salsa and bachata, but I had so much to learn from them. On my travels I discovered that simplest of the people won my heart the most.

3. I learnt to handle failures, I learnt to let go

I had grown up as an achiever, topping the school every year, winning almost all the competitions in my town, getting degree of my choice, cracking interviews of the companies I desired to join. If ever I fail in achieving my target, I would find faults with myself and come back with my improved self to “Achieve” it. I was always in competition with myself if not with anyone else. I had never learnt to handle failures until I started trekking. Time and again I had to give in to the mighty mountains, powerful nature and failed expeditions with reasons beyond anyone’s control. I also landed up with few misadventures on my travels, where the only option was to be happy with the available alternatives. I learnt to let go of my plans and make the most of what I have. Life was easy when I stopped craving to control everything around me. Learning to handle failures was actually a win for me, I learnt to win over my ego.

4. I became humble

So used to excelling at most of the things I took up, I had an arrogant side to my personality which I had overlooked for years. Mountains humbled me with its majesty and so did the great people I met on the road. The skilled locals on the mountains who helped me achieve my “dreams” of climbing the peaks, the ones who saved my life when I had risked myself to near-death situations, the crazy travelers who had traveled across the globe and had so much knowledge to share, the achievers who had scaled so many heights in various walks of life - each one who really impressed me had one thing in common - humility. I was far from being humble compared to them, but I learnt how important it is. Today, when people appreciate my humility, I feel evolved.

5. I learnt to go with the flow

When I planned my travels and wanted to execute the plan in the most efficient way, many a times I lost the fun of enjoying the moment. There were times when I would uncover something really interesting about some place and would have loved to spend more time there, but to be on the plan, I had to miss out on enjoying that moment. That’s when I started backpacking, with absolutely no plan, no bookings, so that I had the flexibility of spending time the way I felt then. I even stopped researching much about any new destination I wanted to visit, apart from the local transportation. And I realised I actually loved being in the moment. I started enjoying my life even more when I could implement this to my life in general. It takes away a lot of burden and lets me cherish every moment. I have no plans for my life, the only aim in life is to evolve!

My travels have opened up my mind in many different directions and I know I’ve a lot more to learn. I kept evolving with my travels and this is a serious addiction!

Related Posts:

Tips on Solo Traveling for Women

What it takes to Travel Solo : Motivation and Insights

How solo driving in India & Himalayas empowers me

7 Comments

How do I finance my travels and other passions

8/16/2017

56 Comments

It is easy to give up on our passions by giving excuses to ourselves

Keeping our passions alive is in itself not easy and over it keeping our pockets ready to pursue them is scarier. I’m a live example of this. It might come as a shock, but I had once given up on my passion only because of my own financial insecurities. Going back to 1997-1998, I had found my first passion in Badminton. I had earned the titles of State Championship and represented myself at Badminton Nationals. My entire life revolved around badminton and I’d never imagined my life without it. Come 1999, my parents had forced me to quit badminton to prepare for my board exams. I didn’t try enough to convince them to let me make a career in Badminton. I spent next 6 years in almost depression. For years I kept blaming them for breaking me down with that decision. Living in Himalayas gave me some “nirvana” if not much. I accepted that it was me who was insecure of my earnings - if I made a career in Badminton and didn't make enough money for my living. It was easier to give up.

Started spending on my passions (dancing) after I started earning

Taking up computer engineering, getting iob in IT multinationals and living a comfortable life was easy. I joined TCS Ahmedabad for my first job. I was a workaholic and progressed well during the first year. Very soon I was exposed to the other factors of the corporate life which didn’t interest me much. After I was done stocking my wardrobe with the best of the brands, money didn’t affect me much. I wanted to pursue my passions. I didn’t manage to find good players to play badminton with in Ahmedabad. So I picked up my next passion - Dancing (I had done a degree in Katthak in my school days) for my after office hours. I joined the best dance classes in the town and enhanced my dancing skills to Jive, Salsa, Cha cha cha, waltz, hip-hop and Jazz. When most others (earning as good as me) would worry about the fees, I went ahead and paid for it. I was saving on other unnecessary things in life like salons, beauty parlours, fashion handbags, dresses, sandals and make-up. I started swimming again, and paid the fees for the pool as well.

Moved to Pune to continue pursuing my passion in sports and adventure

I’d taken my first ever Himalayan trek to Bhrigu Lake (14500 feet) when I was 16 years old, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I didn’t understand how to pursue my passion into adventure with my job, so I took up a job with Infosys and moved to Pune with the idea of trying out adventure activities in the outskirts on the weekends. To my surprise, I found sexy wooden badminton courts right inside Infosys campus. I picked up my racquet again after a gap of 12 long years, and spent all my after office hours on the courts and held the title of "Corporate Badminton Champion of Pune" for all the years I lived in Pune.

I started taking out time and money for dancing (this time it was Tango with Sandip Soparrkar and Bachata). On the weekends I started exploring the city - the markets, the bars, the spas, the restaurants, the night-life. Very soon I bought my sweetheart i10 on EMI (Infosys had given me a good hike on joining) so that I could start venturing out of town on weekends. Long drives soon turned into road trips.

I started taking up weekend treks and other adventure activities in the Sahyadris.

Started traveling to take my passions (trekking and scuba diving) to another level

I switched my job to IBM with little more increment and upgraded my wines from Sula to French wines, trekking in Sahyadris to trekking in Himalayas. The more I trekked in Himalayas, I realised that doing things makes me happier than owning things. I’ve written a separate post on this - How trekking changed my attitude towards life. With this changed attitude, I could save on lot of materialistic luxuries that were once a part of my life and I started saving little more to spend on tougher and costlier mountain expeditions and on my international trips for Scuba Diving. I had to spend a lot on my gears as well.

Quit my IT career to give myself a chance to make a living out of my passions

I never owned anything big except my car. I never had savings to invest in anything, apart from the yearly Tax saver FDs. I was comfortable managing the best lifestyle I could give to myself. But comfort always made me uncomfortable. Something that constantly kept bothering me was that I wasn’t making any use of my potential at all and that frustrated me. I knew my potential was way beyond my own imagination. And I’d again found my passion - this time it was into Adventures. After working for 9.5 years, I gathered enough courage to quit my job, take a break for a year and figure out if I had enough courage to work towards my passions. The only savings I had when I quit my job were my Tax-Saver FDs that had started maturing and my PF that I’d gathered over the years. I still had the courage to give up most of my belongings, kept only what I really needed that could be packed in my car, so that I could be easily mobile and location independent.

Lived on my savings and collaborated with Tourism Boards

After quitting my job, I spent the entire year on my savings - went on 1.5 months backpacking and adventure trip to Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), lived and backpacked in different parts of Himachal Pradesh for 16 months, even bought a Macbook Air and high-end trekking shoes. I was consciously and wisely avoiding spending on most of the things I didn't require, and spent only on the basics. I started blogging frequently after I moved to Tirthan Valley. I got invited for a few sponsored trips by tourism boards. For blogging assignments, I did a few sponsored treks with a few trekking companies and got invited to luxury properties for property reviews.

Freelanced as travel blogger and travel planner

My 1 year break ended in March2017 and I was supposed to start earning from Arpil again (according to my initial plan). But I had made up my mind not to go back to corporate and give myself a chance to make my living though my passion of adventure travel. I panicked a little about my earnings and started freelancing with travel companies for travel writing and blogging assignments, and personalising trips for few interested travellers (this wasn’t easy either. I had even carried my laptop on the Everest Base Camp trek and was working from there on the acclimatisation days). The freelance work started paying 80% of my minimalistic bills and on the side I was constantly working to get into the business side of adventure travel.

Made my way to my dream job

It took me 4 more months than my deadline, and eventually I ended up with a dream job. I’m now the Product Manager for SCUBA Diving for Trip360 (new adventure unit of Cox and Kings). Adventure and Travel is now my work!! Getting here was extremely difficult, but I’m happy that I didn’t give up on my second passion because of financial insecurities.

So all of you who were just looking for figures and calculations such as how much percentage of my salary I kept for my passions, how much per year I spent on my travels, and the likes, I know I’ve disappointed you with this post.

But I can proudly say that all of my passions were completely financed by my own self, even while I took care of all my living expenses, took care of myself when I fell sick, cooked/bought my own food, drove myself to everywhere, stood up for myself, made my own decisions, pampered myself with wines - ALL BY MYSELF. AND EVERYTHING CAME WITH A COST!

All I’m trying to convey is that it was never about how much I earned (I’ve compromised a lot on my earnings to give time to my passions) and how much I spent. It was always about my attitude towards my passions and my priorities.
I considered spending on my passions as an investment, which is eventually paying off.

Related Posts:

How Trekking changed my attitude towards life

How scuba diving encouraged me to quit my job

What I did with my life after quitting my job

56 Comments

Tips on Solo Traveling for Women

2/19/2017

12 Comments

It takes a lot to travel solo. Lot more than what you see in the glamorous selfies. It is even more difficult for women to travel solo. Lot of women are ambitious, but still hesitant to travel solo. Though I'm a solo traveler, I understand it is not everybody's cup of tea or choice to travel solo. I respect personal travel styles and choices. Thanks to all my friends and readers who can appreciate the courage and efforts I put in for my adventures and solo travels.
On request from lot of readers, I'm sharing tips on Solo Traveling for Women. This is not any bible, I'm only sharing what I've learnt through my experiences.

1. Keep friends / family informed about your trip and locations

Always keep 2-3 friends and/or family members informed about your travel plans and locations.
Initially i used to keep my reliable friends and family informed with all my travels plans and update them with my location and contact details frequently. My friends have also been a moral support to me in few cases where I was stuck on my trips and was all alone to handle the misadventures. Gradually I started sharing only the most important details. Luckily, nothing wrong has ever happened to me, but I feel safe in my mind when I do that. That said, you still need to be alert at all the times and choose the destinations carefully.

2.Interact with people to understand them before you fix them up for your travel logistics

Being a backpacker, I never book anything in advance except my flights. This might not suit everybody’s travel style. But if you are backpacking, just like me, have short and formal conversations with the property owners or care takers, guides, cab drivers whom you want to fix up for your travel logistics. Observe their body language and try to understand their intentions. If you feel something is wrong, trust your intuition and move on.
I almost put a cab driver through a psychometric test before I chose him to show me around few places in Ladakh. We got so comfortable with each other on the trip, that he even invited me for lunch at his place on our way back. His wife had kept simple Ladakhi meal ready for us. She joined us for the rest of the trip and carefully dropped me back home.

3. Learn about safety measures from the locals

Each place would require different kind of attention for safety measures. I always prefer interacting with decent locals (males and females both) to give me tips on the local culture and traditions. When I moved to Tirthan valley in Himachal Pradesh after quitting my job, I wanted to understand if it was safe for me to move around in the dark. After approximately 10 affirmations from different people, I actually ventured out in the night to see the moonlit Tirthan valley in Super Moon.
I’m living in Tirthan valley with a local family consisting of a couple and a kid. She is the only female after my mom who cooks so lovingly for me. He is the man who is protective about me for everything. They introduce me to others as a part of their family. They make me feel safe and secured in this valley which was unknown to me before November 2016. Yes, I need the brains and eyes to select such people!

4. Avoid drinks or getting high in new places

It is very tempting to explore the night life and parties in new places but it is my personal advise for the solo woman travellers to keep away from getting high on any substances on your solo travels. I’m sure you don't want to roll in the hay with strangers after a spiked drink. I am against getting drunk on my travels for 2 reasons. First, I know I’m safe when I’m in my full conscious. Second, I can enjoy parties with my friends back in my city. I don’t want to feel wasted on my travels. Sometimes, I don't mind taking 1 drink from a bottle opened in front of my eyes.
The night life at Gili Trawangan (Indonesia), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Vang Vien (Laos), Siemp Reap (Cambodia), Thimpu (Bhutan) were really tempting and I don't visit these countires often. I did walk around the streets to have a taste of this side too, but kept away from drinks!

5. Choose your invites very carefully

Never sound easy to people. Your attitude translates into the respect you command. There would be lot of people inviting you to different functions, festivals, parties, gatherings, events at new places. While you might be tempted to accept the invite and experience something new, just be very careful when you choose to say yes to those invites.

After my Auden's Col Trek, I spent a couple of days in Rishikesh before I headed to Pune. As I walked alone on the streets, quite a few adventure company owners recognised me as a trekker. They invited me to join them for overnight camping at locations away from the crowd. It was a tempting offer to me to explore hidden places, but it just didn't seem right to me and I rejected all the invites. I then met a cafe owner who invited me to his cafe for live music and party in the evening. It sounded good to me as I was in the mood to chill out after a difficult 10-day trek. I had a gala time at the cafe with other travellers from different parts of the world. I vividly remember the cafe owner played a Hindi song "Jeena Jeena - Badlapur" on his guitar. Most of the crowd there was Spanish, yet they hummed to this song.

6. Carry a torch and pre-downloaded google maps

I never carry pepper sprays or knives or sticks during my travels. All I need is a torch and google maps to find my way back home. My brain is alert all the time! In foreign land, it is difficult to get help for directions from people on the road due to language barrier.
Having said that, you might want to be equipped with whatever suits you, including the pepper spray. Whatever it takes!

7. Walk around the streets to feel the vibe

If you are a backpacker, just like me, and avoid booking accommodation in advance, I would advise you to keep updated about few areas frequented by travellers. Try reaching to any new destination in the day and walk around the shortlisted areas to get a vibe about the place. Follow your instincts and choose the right accommodation for you.
For travellers who prefer booking in advance, I am not the right person to advise on how to choose an accommodation online. Online reviews can give few insights about the place.
In any case, try and walk around the streets of any new destination, to feel the vibe of the place.

8. Enjoy your own company

Learn to enjoy your own company to keep away from the possibility of getting involved into wrong company of strangers. Engage yourself in meaningful activities like photography, adventures, reading, interaction with interesting people in public places or just silent commune with the nature.

Suggestions to add to this post are welcome in the comments!

Related Posts:

What it takes to Travel Solo : Motivation and Insights

12 Comments

What it takes to Travel Solo : Motivation and Insights

2/19/2017

13 Comments

I have been traveling solo extensively since 2012. Even before I started blogging about my travels, I used to share my travels on Facebook. In these years, I have received numerous messages from women I met on all walks of my life, or even the ones I have never met. Messages of encouragement, appreciation, expression of desire to do what I’m doing, questions and tips on solo traveling for women in India inundated my inboxes and blog comments. A week ago, I was a speaker for a blogging event where I had a very interactive session with enthusiastic women who aim to be solo travelers some day. And I have been promising a lot of women who follow my blog, to come up with this post. Here’s to all the bold and beautiful ladies out there. (and even the handsome guys who want to travel solo)

Let me put before you the deeper aspects of solo traveling, before I share the practical tips.

1. Have a Strong Reason to Travel Solo

Solo Travel is not a trend to be followed. Yes, it sounds cool to see a woman traveling solo, but it’s not for the trend or for the cool solo-selfies that you would enjoy traveling solo. Travel itself is a very deep, meaningful event for me. I see travel as the best way for me in the direction of evolvement.

Solo travel breaks all my inhibitions and makes me bolder and more confident each day. This is the reason for me getting out of my comfort zone and try some new adventure on each of my trips. Travel is not just a passing fad for me, but a meaningful way of life.

2. Identify if you fear Loneliness or enjoy Solitude

Know yourself and analyse your personality before you choose to travel solo. Can you live all by yourself in your own city, your comfort zone, that is? Do you enjoy dining out alone? Do you have a strong passion to explore new places and are motivated enough to head out on your own even when your friends turn down the offer?

If you know you are constantly craving for a company, I would suggest you to be away from solo travels. Loneliness would only make your travel experiences sad. Traveling alone will bring in its own set of problems which you need to deal with on your own in a new land.
But, if you have embraced the solitude, then my friend, you are in the league. Solitude is dangerous, it is addictive. Once you know how peaceful it is, you don't wanna deal with people anymore. Solo travel would make you love your solitude at an extent from where it might be difficult for you to get back.

3. Believe in yourself

Coming from an Indian family, I know how our families mould us and condition us to live a life in a certain way which suits the society norms. If you really need to follow your heart, whether for travel or anything else, you need to uncage your mind from the set boundaries. As I’ve rightly read it somewhere “Magic happens once you get out of your comfort zone”! What restricts you from getting out of that zone are self-doubts and worries about how things would be once you do it. So believe in yourself and just get started.

4. Get Started

If you have passed the above 3 criteria and you know you can travel solo, all you need is that one final push to start. Believe me, all it takes is just a start. Even as an experienced solo traveler, I still sometimes face apprehensions when I land at new destination- “Am I doing the right thing by being all by myself at this place?” and the next thought is - “Now that I’m already here, let me make the most of it” and this thought leads to the most exciting journeys of my life. So, it’s just these small starts that make big differences in your travels and your life.

5. Follow your instincts

This is the biggest gift solo traveling has given to me. My impulses were always strong. Its just that because of the naysayers, I never learnt to follow them or believe in them. People out there were always ready to discourage and make me doubt my instincts. On my solo travels, I got to experiment on following my senses completely, without anyone’s involvement or interference. Over a period of time, I learnt to believe in and follow my own instincts and started traveling fearlessly. I even trekked solo in Ladakh.

This is like a chicken and egg problem. You need to believe in yourself to enjoy solo travels. The more you practise, the better you get with it.

Once you have cleared your mind, the practical implementation is not too difficult. I'll share tips for women on solo traveling in my next post.

Related Posts:

Tips on Solo Traveling for Women

13 Comments

What I'm doing with my life "After Quitting My Job"

12/2/2016

24 Comments

No, I haven’t figured it out yet, and that wasn’t the plan either!

But when I write this blog straight from my heart, sitting in the lap of mother nature, watching the sun silently shy away behind the layered Himalayas, drinking the freshest chamomile tea from the organic farms of this pure land, I know I’m loving my life much more than I did when I lived in the cities.

I wanted to gift myself a backpacking trip to southeast Asia for taking a bold step of resigning without any plan in my mind. I had planned not to plan anything till I come back from the trip and to give myself complete break from work after the trip to figure out my life after quitting the corporate job. The number of months depended on the part of my savings I kept aside for the break. The sooner I exhaust the amount, the sooner I need to start earning.

After quitting, I visited home for a couple of weeks. I planned my travel dates there and booked my flights. I spent 6 weeks backpacking in 3 countries viz. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The only thing I had booked was my flights to Ho Chi Minh City and return from Phnom Penh. I like this pure backpacking style where I have no plans. I wouldn’t know where i’m spending the day or night. If I like a place, I stay there longer, I plan my next move as per my mood. I don’t like being restricted to a plan on my mind.

On my return journey at the layover at Kuala Lumpur airport, I got connected to check my emails and there was an email from an adventure travel company offering me to join their team as a co-founder. I spoke to the team and they sounded promising about the ideas they wanted to implement to make a change in the way the adventure tourism exists in India currently. I had long conversations with them and agreed to join the team in Gurgaon. I had my return flight from Phnom Penh to Delhi. I met the team in Gurgaon and by then they had planned to strategically set up the operations out of Bir in Himachal Pradesh. I readily agreed to move to Bir, as a first step to living in the mountains. I went to Mumbai, packed my luggage and stuffed as much as I could in my car and donated the rest. I dropped some stuff at my parents house on the way and drove to Bir.

I lived in Bir for 3 months, trying to understand the team and hopefully implement the ideas we had been discussing about all this while. Unfortunately, due to difference in approach within the team, the work didn’t go in the direction I was hopeful about and I wasn’t ready to start working in a direction where I wasn’t interested in. I hadn’t quit my job for this!

Meanwhile my trekker friends planned a high-altitude trek to Kalindi Khal. This is the same team I had trekked with last year to one of the most difficult treks of Garhwal Himalayas - Auden’s Col trek. I wasn’t physically and financially ready for the trek. But my friends wouldn’t just buy these reasons. They helped me getting my trek sponsored and left the fitness part to me.

Legend has it that I come back from every trek with some strong decision, this time I planned to not continue with the startup and take more chances in life, all alone. I came back, talked to the team and moved out of Bir.

I then planned a backpacking and trekking trip to Spiti which was long-waited in my list. I spent around 1.5 months living in different villages in Spiti.

On my way back from Spiti, I spent a week exploring Kinnaur. Kinnaur was unexpectedly very beautiful! I then took a break from mountains to go back to cities for personal work.

I’m now back in the mountains, this time in Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh.
I have had a long history with the Himalayas. I want a lifestyle, like everyone does. But my choice of lifestyle is - breath clean air, eat fresh organic food, drink pure water and live healthy life. I’m trying to live in different parts of the Himalayas, experience the rough terrains and the tough life along with the lifestyle priorities i’ve chosen for myself. Once I’m sure about this lifestyle, I would want to choose my ways of earning around it.

My whole idea of quitting my job without any plan was to give a break to the worries of future and explore myself and places to slowly let my life unfold. I don't believe in planning for solutions, I rather enjoy uncovering them - something that travel taught me to believe in!

It's definitely not easy to keep away from the thoughts of earning, I do keep exploring and evaluating my options on my way.
I haven’t figured it out yet, and that was never the idea either.
The journey is on and completely worth it!

Read my other posts on "QUITTING MY JOB" series:

How Trekking changed my attitude towards life

How Scuba Diving in Andaman encouraged me to quit my job

24 Comments

How Scuba Diving in Andaman encouraged me to quit my job

11/25/2016

35 Comments

I had no alternate plans. I wanted to change my software engineering profile within 2 years of joining TCS as my first job. Like every engineer, MBA was my backup plan. But, I guess destiny had something else in store for me. Eventually, with switching jobs to Infosys and then IBM, i started getting comfortable with my salary and spending all of it on my passions - badminton, travels, adventures, parties, friends and luxuries.
The mornings were depressing when I had to force myself out of the bed to drive to office for the monotonous desk job which never motivated me. I hated talking to machines, I hated interacting with people virtually on conferences. I would just look forward to complete my day’s job to go to the Badminton courts in the evening.

At the back of my mind, I always wanted an alternate career, which I could never figure out. I kept waiting for something to motivate me and some brilliant idea to strike, so that I could quit my job.
In my last project in IBM, I was forced to work irregular hours, spending maddening hours on conference calls and ordering food from outside. I had no routine and started losing out on my healthy lifestyle that I've always tried to maintain, ever since! Additionally, I was forced to cancel my approved leaves for a planned trek due to reasons against my mindset. This was the final nail in the coffin!

I strongly wanted to quit my job and give myself sometime off to figure out my next move. I calculated my little savings and counted the number of salaries I would still need. As the last month (November 2015) arrived, I got goosebumps thinking about the future days with no salary. The thought “Am i doing the right thing? what if.. what not..” started cropping up. I just hoped that I could gather enough courage to leave my steady flow of income. It was easier said than done.

I utilised my pending leaves to celebrate my birthday diving in the Andaman Islands. On one of the days, the sea was nasty and choppy. While we sailed through the rough tides, the divers on the boat got motion sickness too. Gearing up while the boat swayed 40 degrees each side, was impossible without the other person holding you. In this condition, when I stood on the boat platform for the giant stride, I wasn’t sure if I should dive or just let it go. There’s always a next time to dive at the same place. My heart silently whispered to me to take the stride and experience how it feels. I TOOK THE GIANT STRIDE!!

and swam to hold the line, I smoothly descended upto 30 meters of depth amongst various beautiful and colourful shoals of fish.

and I was surprised to experience the sea so calm. It was peaceful, steady, calm deep down there. The chaos and the fear of the choppy sea on the surface was soon forgotten.

The dive at Johny’s Ledge was my first deep dive and one of the best. I was lucky to spot 2 white tip reef sharks that day. It was my first shark spotting too.

Had I not gathered enough courage to take the giant stride into the choppy sea, I would have missed out on something very beautiful.
I applied this analogy to resigning from my job. On the surface of it, it looked scary and choppy, but in my heart I believed its going to be alright and beautiful. I came back home and within a week, I strategically called my manager on 27th nov (friday afternoon) and told him about my decision. My manager asked me if I’ve already decided or is there any scope of change of mind , I firmly said, I have decided. He still wanted to meet me on monday before I officially resigned on 30th Nov 2015. I was the happiest person to have been bold enough to do this.

This was the just the first step towards something I would love to do, but i amazed myself with my confidence. The confidence I showed in my decision was enough for me to spend rest of the months of notice period in peace. I knew everything was going to be alright.

Read my other posts on "QUITTING MY JOB" series:

How Trekking changed my attitude towards life

What I'm doing with my life after quitting my job

35 Comments

How trekking changed my attitude towards life

11/11/2016

15 Comments

I have been a spoilt brat, self-pampered in all possible ways. I have wisely spent my earnings on all my desires and luxuries together. Whether it was buying a car, stuffing all brands in my wardrobe, collecting high-end perfumes and toiletries, decorating my bar table with expensive wines, stocking gourmet food in my kitchen, spending luxuriously on my sports gears, treating myself to good spas and dinners or paying for all the exotic dance forms I’ve learned from the best dancers of the country, no dearth of anything. I have been taking pride in being able to earn for myself and pamper myself with everything I needed and desired for. This actually made me happy until trekking happened to me.

I had done my first Himalayan trek at the age of 16, and I always wanted to come back to the Himalayas. Over the time priorities had changed and making a decent career had taken a front foot. As soon as I realise that I need to keep all my passions alive, I started trekking again. I gave break to badminton, dance, weekend parties and road-trips and took long leaves to head to the mountains. I got addicted to this adventure just as someone would get to drugs.

My initial couple of treks were more about taking pride in the sense of achievement. The more i trekked and spent time in the mountains, the more I realised that I don’t need materialistic frills to be happy. I was my happiest self living out of a backpack in the toughest conditions. I literally lived with basic necessities - food, clothes, shelter (tent). Nothing more! I carry my own backpack while i climb and every ounce counts at those high-altitudes where the oxygen levels drop to just survival.

I needed more utility clothing than any fashionable clothes. I carried only the survival gears. 4 pairs of clothes to last for 10 days. None of the brands made sense there.
I didn’t take bath for all these 10 days and I looked the freshest, my skin glowed, my hair shined without any professional styling products that I was used to otherwise.

The simple eggs, rotis, veggies, dal chawal, tasted so much better in these altitudes, which none of the fine dining in the cities could match upto.
I loved taking the trails where no vehicle or human would reach. I got addicted to freedom, space and pollution free environment.

The life-threatening problems I faced on the treks made all the problems we face in our daily lives look so small, that I stopped worrying about them altogether.
But i was happy, everyday! Doing things I love made me happy and not buying things, I realised!

And this realisation proved costly too.
High rise buildings and malls looked depressing to me. I need lot of space to gaze my eyes around.
I felt restricted on the roads stuck in the traffic jams. I need my freedom to move around as per my will and choice.
Pizzas and burgers no more satisfied my taste buds. I craved for the fresh basil, mint, spinach straight from the organic lands.
Working from desk in a virtual world didn’t motivate me at all. I got used to sensing life with real human connect.

I stopped buying unnecessary things, I would buy only what I needed. I stopped buying plastic completely. I would carry my own cotton bags to grocery shopping. I walked more to minimise the use of petrol. I cooked my own food and stopped eating out frequently. I kept a check on my drinks too because I started aiming for tougher treks each time and fitness was of prime importance. I started saying no to every party so that I could save for my treks and international travels.

I very smoothly transited to a phase of minimalistic living without me even realising about it. When I sensed I was already in "THE PATH", life seemed more meaningful and beautiful.

Read my other posts on "QUITTING MY JOB" series:

How Scuba Diving in Andaman encouraged me to quite my job

What I'm doing with my life after quitting my job

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Travel Blog of Medhavi Davda (from India)Adventure Travel ~ Responsible Travel ~ Experiential Travel ~ ​Solo Travel​

1, I realised I’m responsible for my own happiness

2. I started respecting every individual

3. I learnt to handle failures, I learnt to let go

​4. I became humble

5. I learnt to go with the flow

It is easy to give up on our passions by giving excuses to ourselves

Started spending on my passions (dancing) after I started earning

Moved to Pune to continue pursuing my passion in sports and adventure

Started traveling to take my passions (trekking and scuba diving) to another level

Quit my IT career to give myself a chance to make a living out of my passions

​Lived on my savings and collaborated with Tourism Boards

Freelanced as travel blogger and travel planner

Made my way to my dream job

​1. Keep friends / family informed about your trip and locations

​2.Interact with people to understand them before you fix them up for your travel logistics

​3. Learn about safety measures from the locals

4. Avoid drinks or getting high in new places

5. Choose your invites very carefully

6. Carry a torch and pre-downloaded google maps

7. Walk around the streets to feel the vibe

8. Enjoy your own company

​1. Have a Strong Reason to Travel Solo

​2. Identify if you fear Loneliness or enjoy Solitude

3. Believe in yourself

4. Get Started

5. Follow your instincts

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Quitting My Job series

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Travel Blog of Medhavi Davda (from India)
Adventure Travel ~ Responsible Travel ~ Experiential Travel ~ Solo Travel

4. I became humble

Lived on my savings and collaborated with Tourism Boards

1. Keep friends / family informed about your trip and locations

2.Interact with people to understand them before you fix them up for your travel logistics

3. Learn about safety measures from the locals

1. Have a Strong Reason to Travel Solo

2. Identify if you fear Loneliness or enjoy Solitude

RavenousLegs on Twitter