I can't believe it has come to this that *I* am giving career advice. But given the number of emails I receive on "how to be a travel writer" or "how to fund my travels", even from students as young as in high school, I'm inclined to issue a warning and perhaps some helpful advice. Because what worries me is that they want to jump right into it as a career option without bothering about the nature of work that could sustain this lifestyle.

(Full disclosure: I have quit my corporate job to travel more and I fully recommend it. But my warning is to consider the issues I discuss below before quitting.)

Brace yourself, long post ahead! If you're contemplating quitting your job to travel the world, this is for you. If you're not but looking to travel, head straight to this section - What you could do instead of dreaming of quitting your job to travel.

Lifelong travel is a means to no end. Seriously!

All those who seem to travel forever, do some kind of work. (Ridiculous that some people think they don’t work, they work very hard!) These people, they’ve hustled and found ways to sustain themselves while on the road. But hustling for a year or two or five, is absolutely great. Anything beyond frankly is tiring and pointless in my opinion. 90% of those Internet people who pontificated quitting their jobs to travel the world have gone back to steady jobs and the few who didn't they have hit the jackpot only by creating businesses and innovative sources of income out of their addiction. So you see, people cannot travel the world forever; you'd be mighty bored and will run out of money before you get there! Heck, even Nomadic Matt has thought of settling down and started a hostel for crying out loud! Maybe you'd go around the world in 8 years or in 80 days but only wanderlust isn't going to sustain forever.

While it is an enticing idea to go on an endless vacation, the reality is much more boring and the idea equally asinine. If travel is the cure for ennui, endless travel without an agenda will bring back the same ennui you tried to escape in first place. If you’re wondering this is not true, look back at your own travels. What amazed you on your first trip most certainly wouldn’t amaze you the same way now after 20 trips.

It isn't always practically possible, to live a life of constant travel

I can't peddle a life of travel because some of us might be privileged enough to have no responsibilities but that's not the case with everyone. The way people speak about this makes me very uncomfortable. What is going to happen tomorrow if everyone starts quitting his or her jobs and travel? The few of us who have these glamorous jobs writing about travel is only possible because others are doing their so called "boring" jobs and paying for our indulgences. They are busy running the world!

Encouraging people to follow their dreams is noble. Asking to do so by brushing off the circumstances in one wide stroke of laziness or reluctance is downright cruel. I see this happening time and again over social media and in all those gushing blog posts proselytizing quitting jobs to travel, and this gets on my nerves to no end. By all means, encourage people to follow their dreams. But before doing that, acknowledge your own privilege. A person from the slums and a middle class person do not start from the same rung of the ladder; let's not even act as if it is anything else. Our troubles are the worst, but only to us, let's not make a mountain out a molehill. That's one reason I do not share much about my life or struggles after quitting my job. I need time to make sense of what's happening, of my future and also to understand how to project it in a realistic way.

Before heading straight to the "quit your job to travel" section, I would highly suggest keeping a tab on reality too. Perhaps you need to spend time with family or take care of a loved one or work on a dream project that requires your time, being on the road constantly is highly overrated not the only way to see the world. Do what we do best, adapt and make best use of what's available to us instead of dreaming of hitting the road indefinitely. Hustling to travel constantly sounds fancy, but what it is in reality is the same old drudgery packaged with different rewards and issues minus a cubicle, office politics and perhaps ennui.

Sense of accomplishment is crucial to our happiness, choose wisely!

We spend a better part of our life doing work, whatever it is that we choose to do. If it's not enjoyable, if it's not motivating, if we're not proud of what we're creating, we'll be hopelessly lost in the long run. Looking back at the last few years of my life, I do not want to look at a string of influencer marketing deals that made me richer but left nothing but a trail of product recommendations in my wake. Neither do I want to see a binder full of clips in high-end magazines telling people where the hottest luxury hotel has just opened or gush about a well-worn tourist trail. Either way, I could've made a lot of money if I so wished and would've travelled a lot too. But there would've been the same void that I failed to fill in my corporate life - a bottomless pit of discontent at not creating something that I considered useful.

Money is important to our general well being. But the most important thing that gets swept under the rug for some strange reason is work satisfaction. When you come to me asking for advice on how to quit your job to travel, it shows that you have given no thought to the work that you want to put behind it. What's the worst you are willing to do to travel? Do you have a threshold and how long can you put up with meaningless jobs? Do you have a particular liking to one aspect or kind of travel? You need to consider finding work that aligns with your interest and liking. For instance, even though I'd get to travel, I'd be downright miserable writing luxury hotel reviews for even a reputed publication because it is just not what I want and it's just not the right fit for me.

So while a life of travel might sound enticing, at the end of the day, you need to feel proud of the work you are putting out. You'll achieve lasting satisfaction when you find a worthy reason to wake up every morning, when you find a meaning to your passion.

What you should look for instead?
Some sort of purpose that intersects with your passion.

It might look like I'm veering into boring philosophical territory here, but stay with me because if you're contemplating quitting your job to travel, this is pertinent. I remember having many conversations with friends and strangers fraught with anxiety and disenchantment of the "normal" lifestyle. These people were so depressed, they were happy to join any company and do anything that would allow them to travel. But you cannot lead a lifetime with a purpose as shallow as "traveling for fun".

So many of my friends started something dreamy, quickly realized working in the travel industry too comes with the same old constraints of routine grunt work, along with the insane rollercoaster ride of emotions and conflicts thrown in as an entrepreneur, and have now settled comfortably in their lives. But they’ve done so with the added contentment that they at least tried. Few have gone on to make a living out of travel. Those who succeeded had a passion that went beyond travel, an underlying motivation that pushed them through the infinite hurdles.

If money or time was no consequence, what is it that you'd want to do every single day of your life? After lounging on the beach or a hilltop for months, you'll want to do something of consequence. So even though it may seem like money or travel or luxury makes you happy at the moment, once these things are achieved you'll be looking for something more.

Ever since I realized this, I’ve changed how I travel. I now exclusively pursue novelty and stories instead. Why? It makes me feel alive and it gives me something to tell. Here, this is a passion that could translate into a tangible result instead of something as fleeting and generic as seeing beautiful places or traveling for fun. Novelty is the fuel to my passion and sharing that story to the world gives purpose to my passion. Life has been so much simpler ever since I realized this. (The reason I enjoy writing for reputed publications more than my blog is this, I enjoy reaching as many people as possible.)

Find what fuels your passion and what gives meaning to it.

Here's what being a travel writer entails.

Travel writing is a lot like unrequited love. You go through a lot for a very little in return but you do it anyway because you love it. Not because you get to travel, but because you get a high from publishing. I'm going to expound this more in another post in future but take this on face value for now - getting into travel writing hoping you'll get to travel is going to be the sure-fire way to kill your interest in both travelling and writing.

Here's what being a travel blogger entails.

You could put in the same kind of work, writing wise, into your blog and succeed as a travel blogger without the insecurities of publishing industry. But again, you'll succeed only if you're driven to create quality content consistently for absolutely no return while bootstrapping, interacting and engaging with your followers, creating an illusion and feeding their curiosity persistently, and marketing your lifestyle or life story obsessively. As you see, if you don't have a passion for blogging, social media and a certain affinity to self-promote to begin with, you won't succeed here either.

In the same vein, to be successful as a travel photographer, you need to be really passionate about photography first and also be good at it! And be prepared to be a one-man army in running your business.

It's not all hunky dory. It is work. Do you have passion for this kind of work? If not, how different is this - doing any job for travel that is - from choosing a meaningless job for the reward of a salary or travel? You'll be back to resenting your life in no time! The only difference is now you're both miserable and penniless. In your corporate job, at least you were not penniless.

I couldn't put it any more eloquently than Mark Manson who elaborately explains you need to be in love with both the result and the struggle required to get to the result, to succeed in an unconventional pursuit. Travel is the reward and the drudgery you're willing to put up with, is what you have to figure out. "Our struggles define our successes, so choose your struggles wisely my friend", he says. Couldn't agree more, go read his superb piece linked below and come back to see what you could do about travel.

The most important question of your life - How do you choose to suffer?

(While you're at it, see if whatever you have in mind is going to pass the litmus test of positively getting through these questions? 7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose)

***

Here's what you could do instead of dreaming of quitting your job to travel:

1. Find a suitable job that allows you to travel and pays you well

Look no further than fellow traveller Anshul Chaurasia who I profiled on my blog earlier. With a well paying corporate job and meticulous planning, he’s on his way to seeing as much of the world as possible. If you even remotely enjoy the work you do, this is the best approach to fund your travels. Read: You don't have to quit your job to travel. Here's why!

2. Find a passion that also allows you to travel

Passion's the operative word here. That passion could be storytelling, videography, photography, research, conservation, science, activism, documentary filmmaking or even teaching! Then it wouldn’t be like you are travelling to feed your passion, your passion itself would take you places. This is the kind of work that sustains over a long period, very long period.

3. Work towards a location independent lifestyle

I cannot recommend this enough. It's a miracle that we're now in a place that allows us to work remotely. In my opinion, this is one the best things to come out of Internet proliferation for the common public. Take out all the horrible work things that ties you to a location like long commutes, useless meetings, constraints that require to you to be present physically and your work no longer is the noose around your neck. Instead it is now your ticket to freedom!

4. Sort your priorities. Do a SWOT analysis. Make a plan.

List your goals and work towards them. Travel cannot be an actionable goal. X amount of money and Y days of vacation is. Think hard, figure out what’s important to you and also what’s acceptable to you - and then find some middle ground.

5. Hustle or Save up. Then go for a gap year!

Earn and save up. Travel for a year or two. Get back to your job and life. Repeat. For this, hustle away to glory. From SEO links to influencers ads to barter exchanges to random “flavour of the season” neo-digital media campaigns, everything goes. But be warned, don’t think of this as your long-term strategy because in the long run, this sort of hustling sucks big time. Hustle to find your path, not to stay on it forever.

Travel. (Work) Satisfaction. Money.

If you’re not intent on arriving at this winning trifecta at some point in your journey, I would suggest to not bother with quitting your stable job to travel the world forever, because you might end up in the same old rut you tried to escape and it’s only going to be much worse this time.

In the end, all I want to say is there is no need to mix travel and work. If you do, do it wisely and it can be immensely gratifying. Or keep them separate and have the best of both worlds!

Related reading:

A comprehensive primer for Digital Nomads & location independent entrepreneurs by Legal Nomads

Last year this week, I had just quit my job of 7 years and was out gallivanting in the happy Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. I had a vague plan on what to do and didn’t have a lot in my savings account. All I had was a strange defiance of the life that was laid out for me - a life bound within the confines of familiarity and ennui. I took the decision to quit as soon as I learnt how to make money in other ways.

The plan

The only plan I had before quitting was that I should work diligently, 4-5 hours at desk every day. Frankly, that’s all it takes at this point for me to earn a decent living. Now when I’m traveling, taking notes and photographing, that’s work too but it being something I enjoy immensely, doesn’t really count as work. When I quit, I didn’t exit the structured corporate life with a hefty bank balance. I had already spent all my money on travels. What I did accumulate was plenty of words and images from my travels. I invested in my travels and stories were the product that I intended to sell. I didn’t have a financial plan. I planned to sell stories.

The Direction

One thing that I was looking for in the months after I quit was a clear direction. On some level I already knew the kind of work I’d like to do, telling deep stories from remote cultures and landscapes. But what I didn’t know was if I had it in me to take it up professionally. In the last few months, I found that direction. Earlier this year, I spent a week in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh to document the fabulously interesting Myoko Festival. I attended all their rituals, learnt the local names by heart. Shot many many portraits, which is one thing I’m terrified of and ate plenty of weird food. That one week pushed me so much out of my comfort zone that I’d like to think I have inched towards becoming a better professional. In future, this is the kind of work I want to do - document faraway, bizarre cultures and landscapes. This, I believe, was a step in the right direction.

The Highs

The biggest high has been the opportunity to try something new. Earlier this year, I sold calendars which few of you bought (Thank you!). I priced them quite high at 950 and 1250 as the production cost itself was very high for small orders. I had outsourced the entire job of printing, assembling and delivery to another agency, all I did was choose the images and select a design. When the orders started pouring in, I began to wonder if it was going to be that easy to make money - sell an idea, delegate and earn profits!

But then came all the complications of managing the production logistics and delivering on time. That one week was one of the most harrowing times with insane sleepless nights and persistent headache. In the end, of course, I loved the fact that I sold a product, people actually bought it and I made some money out of it. I will be selling calendars and other products later this year again, armed with the learning from past mistakes and it’s going to be epic!

But there have been no lows. Nah, I’m kidding! No I am not.

You’d think I’m vain but let me go ahead and say it - there haven’t been any major lows in this journey. Sure, they were challenges, quite a lot of them. But that’s what they were, every potential low was a problem to be solved, a challenge to be tackled. Coming from where I did, anything felt better that doing the meaningless and miserable soul-crushing work I did earlier. When things went downhill, I was quick in counting my blessings. On some days, I just couldn’t believe this is my life - wandering about, taking pictures and writing stories.

I was full of bitterness in my earlier job - I remembered the bad days, the shitty meetings and the indignation. Surprisingly, now when I look back, I only remember the highs. That’s not to say there were no bad days, there were plenty. But it’s funny how genuine contentment can spill over into all parts of your life neutralizing whatever resentment you held.

Travel Writing, Money and the works

It’s been a bit challenging because I just wouldn’t get off my ass and pitch ideas. But on those rare days that I do manage to send my ideas out, I get good amount of work. I have written dozens of articles in the past one year and I’m secretly very proud that none of them were lists! (Okay, I’m lying. There was one.) When I thought of travel writing, this is what I had in mind. I am not going to tell where to go or how to do it. I am just going to talk about the reasons that compel us to travel.

So far, the only income I’ve earned is through travel writing & photography. There have been quite a few scary and penniless weeks, wondering how in the hell will I be paying those credit card bills because the cheques won’t ever arrive on time. But, I had decided a while ago that I’m not going to dilute my focus by dipping my feet into any other opportunities. I stuck to this decision and I couldn’t have been happier.

However, a lot of the stories I’m working on are from my previous travels. It essentially means I’m piggybacking on all the trips I paid for with my corporate salary. In about a year or more, I will run out of stories from my previous trips and the money I earn through writing will have to be put back into traveling again. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sustain myself for long depending only on income from travel writing but that’s something I’m not going to worry about right now. By that time in future, I should’ve also figured out how to get commissioned stories where all expenses are paid. At the moment, I travel on my own and then sell the stories. I do take assistance from tourism boards, hotel chains, travel companies and such but there’s a certain amount of money that goes from my pocket too.

There are some things I missed

Not having a steady base has been largely a liberating experience. On few days, I miss having a place to slow down and get work done but the fault largely lies with me in not being able to find a good guesthouse for long term stay. All world’s home now. Other than that, I really do not miss having a place that I call home.

What I do miss is writing good stories on my blog now. I am holding off the best stuff to write for other publications and I’m writing so much already elsewhere that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to write for the blog as well. Which is a pity because I love writing for you and reaching a direct audience. I do hope to post more anecdotes and unedited versions of published stories here soon. Meanwhile you can read my published stories here - www.neelima.contently.com.

***

It’s really crazy that I lasted a whole year. At some point, I imagined I’d panic, break down and go crawling back to a regular soul-crushing job. Strangely, a year after I quit, I don’t see myself heading towards a regular job anytime soon. I love the fact that I can experiment, think out of the box and keep myself open for opportunities. More importantly, all of this feels quite normal!

Related Reading:

That's it Folks, I Quit!

The Inside Scoop on How Awesome my Life has been since I Quit my Job (& exciting news)

Two months ago, I had this momentous epiphany that I should be giving up the apartment, my belongings, a stable base and live out of a backpack. I gave my two months notice to the house owner, packed up my stuff and made plans to call the road home. And the first place I wanted to go back to, as a nomad, was a strange place that was never comfortable, always had great adventures in store for me and felt like another planet to someone who comes from the land of bright tropical sunshine - Ladakh!

I always thought, as a wandering soul at heart, I would never want to call one place home. But here in Ladakh, every single time I arrive, I feel at home. Including last month’s journey, I’ve been here five times already - thrice in summers and twice in winters! I returned this time thinking I’ll be back again coming summer. I often wonder, how is it that a place can call out to me again and again, and again?

But what makes a place feel like home? 

Familiarity? Probably. 

Novelty? Certainly not!

The first time I arrived in Ladakh, it was like novelty hit me in the gut and assaulted my senses ceaselessly. I never knew Himalayas were so dry, muddy and so majestic. The oxygen deprivation was a completely new sensation altogether and the proximity to sky-high mountains was inexplicably nostalgic - having grown up in plains, those were memories probably from my past life.

It was here in these mountains that I first experienced freedom in its purest form. Sitting on the banks of a solitary Pangong, then untainted by the consumerist hogwash, I felt like I arrived at the end of the world. Except for a handful of vehicles, the disastrous human touch was delightfully absent and the untarnished natural beauty of the blue lake was mine and only mine to savour. It’s been 7 years since I first set foot in this enchanted land, I’ve seen the place change over the years - from blissful desolateness to pitiful commercialization. I’ve seen the place grow, I’ve explored it’s nooks and corners - I’ve gone from the marshlands of Chushul to the tribes of Dah Hanu, reached scintillating heights of Stok Kangri to freezing depths of Chadar. I’ve followed the trail of a Snow Leopard and watched dozens of Kiangs(Wild Asses) run amok across the cold desert. Every time I’m here, a sense of belonging and a rush of familiarity washes me over. 

I do not live here, but I see a friendly face on every corner. I did not grow up here, but there’s always someone who recognizes me here. I do not belong here, but my body adjusts perfectly fine to the high altitudes & freezing temperatures here. My mind - it takes flight here! There is something in these hills that reminds me of a place called home, that was never mine to begin with. 

Last January, when I was worried sick about walking on Chadar(it’s a frozen river for god’s sake, which can break anytime!), I completed the trek without any incident. Our guide said, this was a rare occurance that we finished the trek without any weather related trouble or the need to wade barefoot through freezing waters. This year, when I went back, Ladakh welcomed me with a warm heart in the dead of winter by showing me its colorful festival welcoming summers! Feels like Ladakh takes care of me, always. 

How many times have we made silent promises that we’ll be back somewhere and how many times have we actually gone back? With Ladakh, I go back every single time I make that promise. I’ve been to thousand other places since my journey started at Ladakh and till today Ladakh is one of the very few places that truly feels like home - oxygen deprivation, lack of greenery and freezing temperatures notwithstanding! Sometimes the strangest of places feel like home and perhaps the magic lies exactly in not knowing why. 

With all the “How I quit my job to Travel” stories (mine included) floating around in the web world, it might be easy to think that quitting job is the only possible way to travel. But that’s a far cry from reality and definitely not a pre-requisite to travel the world!

I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list! - Susan Sontag

Quitting your full time job sounds like a fancy proposition but the hard truth is it is not as glamorous as it sounds. There’s the possibility of a lot of travel but there’s a lot of work involved as well. You have the freedom but you don’t have the luxury of a big chunk of disposable income anymore. In the end, it’s all about making a choice.

Both the situations have their pros and cons. I have travelled a lot over the past few years – with a job in hand and without one over the past few months. I have experienced both sides of the coin and certainly have missed few things from my cubicle days. The thing is, when most of us quit our jobs to travel, we find another work. Travel is not an escape from work and it isn’t supposed to be.

So, unless you have found another way to make money and pay your bills, traveling with a job in hand can actually be quite amazing. With some good planning, you can travel a lot! I once met a German guy who worked as a teacher, a profession that gave him enough long vacations (summer, winter, Christmas etc) during which he used to travel to many countries every single year. And every few years, he used to find work in a different country allowing him to explore that part of the world while he was posted there. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Here’s the story of another friend who goes on crazy adventures across the world and he does it all with the help of his corporate job and some kickass planning. As we speak, he’s already making plans to overland across Central Asia and visit one of the least visited places, Socotra Island this year. In the last 2 years, he’s been on the Trans-Siberian journey, wreck-dived in Bali, ice-dived in Russia, went on the highest and longest train journey in the world from China to Tibet and visited about 20 odd countries.

Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth!

Anshul Chaurasia tells you why having a job to travel the world is just as awesome.

Being in a full time job and managing travel is very much possible. The easier way to understand is to take this up job as the source of funds and travel as the main passion. Secondly one needs to be very proactive in planning. Just like managers plan projects months in advance and have a pipeline, one can plan their travel well in advance. I have nothing against impromptu vacations, but things like international travel, cheap airfare deals, and visa issues are handled well if you have proper timeline. Think, three-four week long holidays abroad/in India as big projects that need planning and small weekend holidays as ad-hoc deliverables that need shorter planning. Also saving up money becomes easier when you have a timeline - book tickets in first month, hotels next month, visas as early as the specific consulate allows, and the Forex in the month you would be travelling. Also informing at one's employer 3-4 months before the travel helps since managers can manage dependencies easily then. This becomes a major hurdle for last minute holidays.

For example I planned a trip to Bali more than a year in advance as I got Bangalore - Bali return fares for as low as 8000 INR in an AirAsia sale. Also be a big hound for cheap airfares deals, once that is done rest of the things can be taken care of easily.

It would be wrong if I don't accept that the thought to quit my current job and do something more conducive to travel industry - like a writer, scuba trainer etc has not come in my mind. But then a stable well paying job gives one the luxury to plan costly destinations, borrow money from people since you can return them next month, use credit cards without much thought, and above all a stable revenue stream is hard to give up.

I did try a short 2.5 months trip this year, which spanned 26,000 Kms of overland travel across Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet and Nepal and was able to get Leave of Absence from office (unpaid, naturally). But the peace of mind one gets because there is a job waiting back cannot be compared to if I had to quit and search another job after coming back. Best part is that I told them the real reason and after much convincing they were in support of it.

I think this if fine as travel does a lot of broadening of one's perspectives and if their parents can fund their travel I would say they should definitely try it for few months at least. In west, many people do it taking student loans after college end. But then getting a job makes one value every single rupee earned and then one becomes a conscious traveler as they are spending their own hard-earned money.

The mantra is don’t think your job will be the driving force in your life, you would have to find that force yourself. If travel is that force, then use whatever fuel you can get to keep it running.

Have you thought of quitting your job to travel?

Somewhere in the Steppes of Mongolia

With great power comes great responsibility and that's what has happened to me. I finally earned my freedom last year but as always with many good things, it was easier to achieve freedom than holding on to it! During the last few months I learned it requires a lot of self discipline to make freelancing work for you. And as it turns out, the queen of procrastination(me) wasn't ready to change her languorous ways despite the lure of an adventurous future. I won't elaborate on the practicalities of freelance life here, that's for another day but safe to say, it's twice as tough and half as glamorous.

When I was working in a full time corporate job, I used to wake up at 5 in the morning and file stories or pitch ideas before heading to work. I used to hole myself up in my home office over weekends working over ideas, stories and images. I thought if I could do so well with a full time job at hand, I imagined the moment I quit I would pick up new publications to write for and type thousands of words and process Gigabytes of images.

In reality, all I did was watch many of the epic TV series I missed out over the past years where I traveled or slogged to get my foot into travel writing industry. I had resisted the temptation for so long, to watch Game of Thrones or Sherlock even as my Facebook and Twitter feeds were filled with spoilers and praises day after day. But in the first few days after I quit where I found myself waking up to days with so set agenda and full of "free" time, all my resolution shattered into pieces. I missed out on pop culture for way too long that I binge-watched series to my heart's content. I watched Game of Thrones, Sherlock, Homeland, House of Cards, Castle and several hundred reruns of F.R.I.E.N.D.S in the last 6 months. I took delightful afternoon naps on cold winter days of Bangalore. I woke up in no hurry, enjoyed several cups of instant coffee(I make horrible coffee btw) and thanked my stars a million times that I have escaped the wretched Bangalore Traffic!

While I don't entirely regret lazing around(after 7 years of corporate life, I think I deserve 6 months of doing nothing), it hurts that I wasn't at least half as productive as I wanted to be. Work and travel wise, it was good. I traveled a lot in the 6 months since I quit (Bhutan, Mongolia, Macao, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Sahyadris, Punjab, Western Ghats). I broke into dream publications and have been writing feature stories for leading magazines but I know I haven't even scratched the surface - of neither my ability nor the stories locked up in my mind. I haven't even started working on Mongolia stories yet or pictures and it's been 4 months since I got back!

I got so comfortable returning to my home in Bangalore that I passed up on many opportunities. Renting a place even after I quit didn't make sense considering I wanted to be a nomad in first place, but this was a new low. I preferred to stay here instead of chasing new adventures. That was the trigger that jolted me out of my slothful stupor, something was definitely going wrong. I found myself waiting for opportunities rather than creating them. And that's when I decided enough is enough. I now need to shake things up a bit and get out of this comfortable shell I've created for myself in Bangalore. I needed to move away from the distractions of lightning quick & unlimited internet. When the internet is so limited in hinterlands where I plan to be, I'm sure I'll be focussed on finishing the work at hand and shutting down the laptop because *slow internet*.  It's time to move far out of my comfort zone because we all know where magic happens!

To that end, I am finally moving out of Bangalore - a backpack, a laptop and my camera in tow, I will now be calling the road home! Come February, I will be embarking on this new adventure and I don't know where I'm heading yet. I know this will make me very very uncomfortable but I've collected/sold most stories from the trips that scared the shit out of me. If this decision is making me nervous, it's a good thing. The fear and uncertainty will keep me on my toes and push me to do much more than I am currently doing. And worst case scenario, if I continue to be just as lazy, I might as well be lazy in a place with a view! ;)

What's your resolution for 2015?

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” - Henry David Thoreau

Surprisingly, it wasn’t all about travel. 

Although travel had a lot to do with this decision, it was also not entirely about it. It was something so much more than travel. Something that travel had introduced me to, freedom! The freedom to do things we want and things we must. I love to travel, no doubt, and having a steady job with good income and a great number of vacations per year was actually working out quite well for me. But somewhere along it felt like I was trying hard to play catch up and never really caught up. The last few months have been so crazy I’ve hardly been able to do anything I like. It was an exciting period both professionally and personally but it drained me out completely and left me mentally exhausted.

Despite having never gone to gym, I used to be pretty fit thanks to frequent short yet strenuous treks. But over the last few years I have become so dull, I struggled to climb every single time I have gone trekking in the recent past. Being unfit in the outdoors is so not fun, trust me! No treks, no sunsets, no cool evenings, it seemed all that time was spent in traffic. And the rest of the time, I was busy playing catch up. I got a lot of writing done (Read : Reflecting on a year as a Travel Writer!), got a lot of experience and all that slogging was part of the mandatory early learning curve but it had to go away. It had to end.

I had already given up on material possessions in favor of meaningful experiences, you know how travel does that to you, but I wasn’t counting the mental energy and precious time I was still investing to keep up this lifestyle. One fine day, as I struggled with this new discomfort, I came across Henry David Thoreau’s excellent quote “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” That did it for me, I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore. I didn’t want the extra money at the cost of living with stress and restraint. I wanted freedom - the time to indulge in my passions, to travel, to read, to write, to go visit my family and have the bandwidth to explore and do/create something meaningful.

I did not want to settle for what’s been handed to me. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t escape me for one moment that I’ve been blessed with extremely good fortune where I have a good life, am free to travel, have my health, earn well and have a supportive family that doesn’t require my financial support. Because I had nothing stopping me, it made all the more sense to go after my dreams or make better use of my time than participate in the rat race. If not, all that good fortune seemed just like a crutch to take support from forever instead of making it a pedestal from where I could fly higher. I’ve taken the path of least resistance so far(finished school, took up engineering, took up the first job I got) but now it’s time to tread new waters and push boundaries.

Years from now, I don’t want to be wondering “what if?”. Travel has showed me how beautiful life and this world can be and I intend to experience as much of it as possible. Cliched as it may sound, I want to feel alive and be free.

Of course I will be traveling more but I am not taking off on a six month trip to some place exotic because time is what I need, not more travel. All I want now is the bandwidth to try out different things, enjoy the sunsets, think about how the next years of mine should look like, write and read more. I want time to stand still while I figure this out. But since we do not have that luxury, I want to slow down or just stop in my tracks, turn back and start over. I do not want to escape the hard work, just that I want to invest my time and energy in doing things that matter to me and are close to my heart. And that’s the freedom I dream of.

I am excited about the future, that which is unwritten, wide open and mine to create.

The one where endless possibilities await!

NOTE : In case you are wondering, I used to work in the IT Industry. ;)

That’s the story of my life. When I am traveling, I prefer to be silent, to be quiet and to be calm enough to observe what is happening around me. In fact my travel days are one of those rare days where I let the other person speak and I listen, I listen intently. I am intrigued by new cultures, new destinations and new stories! Of course, once I am back I won’t rest until I have recounted each and every experience to my often reluctant audience. But how did I ever discover I liked all these?

In the very beginning, like everyone else, I used to look for company to travel. There wasn’t a travel plan which didn’t include a whole a lot of begging/convincing a friend(s) to come along. My travel plans revolved around others’ availability and others’ plans. When I met more people who were interested in travel, it didn’t take long before I made friends with them and went on several trips together. The trips were full of laughter, poking fun at each other and a whole lot of talking because all of us were new to each other and we there because of our common love of travel. What these trips were not was enriching. In the sense that while meeting new people was fun I didn’t learn anything about the place that we were visiting because we were so busy with each other. We were confined in this familiar protective bubble with little chance of interaction with the others. Conversations bounced between the closed contexts of our group, there was little that felt alien.

On some unsuspecting trip, clichéd as it may seem, I happened to discover the joy of discovery. I started traveling with few and actively avoided all such trips that included a huge group. After all, all that joking and talking and laughing got in the way of me experiencing the place. When I look back at such trips, neither do I remember the conversations nor do I remember the place. At this point I must be coming off as an increasingly anti-social person. I will be lying if I say I have nothing against such vacations, well, I hate them. Please don’t judge me. But what I do love is to travel in a way where me or my friends are not taking over a place, where I am not intruding. I want to be able to blend in, observe, learn and not seem intimidating.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t take to solo travel for a really long time. My first solo trip was only in 2011 to Sikkim. I have gone alone to join groups where I didn’t know anyone before but never traveled all alone until that point. And I traveled solo because I didn’t find anyone to come along and also because I didn’t want to wait for someone to come along. That was a small 5 day trip in the foothills of Himalayas and that one trip changed my life and how! Since then I have daringly set out travel to the remote islands of Andaman and to stay with the headhunting tribes of Nagaland alone and had some pretty remarkable experiences – both terrifying and breathtaking.

In India, especially, we are not accustomed to the idea of doing things alone. Be it, going to the movies or going shopping or god forbid, eat alone! Here, doing things alone will only attract pitiful glances and sympathetic enquiries. I have been asked several times if I didn’t have a family. If I did, how they allowed me to travel alone was invariably the next question. Always. The good thing about traveling alone in India is that everybody wants to know your story. They come to you, they are curious and let you immerse in their world. I have had some really long and interesting conversations with the locals wherever I traveled alone or with just a friend. The bad thing about traveling alone is that everybody wants to know your story. As a woman traveling alone, I do attract a lot of attention. Sometimes I just want to be left alone but that doesn’t always work in my favor.

Half the times, I am at my wit’s end with all the things going wrong around me, like the snakeskin in my room or landslides or falling sick or the lack of public transport or landing in a remote village where the hotel’s locked down and there’s no power for 2 days. Half the times I am also scared to death. But the confidence that comes from the knowledge that I survived all these and lived to tell the story leaves me in a far better state than I earlier was in. We all know that magic happens outside of our comfort zone. I am now willing to take on challenges and enjoy the freedom that I am given. By trusting myself and being forced to trust strangers, I now know that I can work my way around chaotic situations and that people elsewhere in general are quite nice and friendly. I have taken some stupid decisions too but I’ve learnt my lessons. 

Solo travel opens a whole new world that has been shielded by none other than our own presumptions.  In the process I also do have better and insightful travel experiences. There are loads of posts on the internet advocating solo travel, but I decided to share these thoughts anyway because to hear something from someone you know or relate to can make a bigger difference. I know that once a friend hiked all alone thinking “If Neelima can go solo, I can too” and I know I drew strength from my other friend who hiked alone.

I do not want to paint a rosy picture of solo travel though. It is not going to be easy but is the reward going to be worth the effort? Yes! Words like safety, loneliness etc get thrown around generously whenever solo travel talk comes up, we’ll discuss that in a later post. Solo travel is difficult only to begin with but it is an incredibly enriching experience. I won’t say take a huge leap of faith and take that month long overseas trip just yet, but try. Time is too precious to spend it waiting for something to happen or for someone to come along. Pick up your bag and go. Don’t pin all your hopes on waiting for the perfect time or finding that perfect travel partner to begin your journey. In fact everyone should take a solo trip - to discover courage, confidence, freedom and to grow as a person!

Today it feels amazing to say “Yes, I am going alone!” I can and I will.

What are your thoughts on solo travel in India?

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2012 Women's Day post - My Little Secret (on How to get started with Travel)

**UPDATE**
Answered few more new questions. Check them out in the new section

So turns out in the last post I missed out few questions because of some goof up in email forwarding. Here are the answers to more questions. 

For the uninitiated, few weeks ago I asked my readers to Ask me Anything and I would answer.

**NEW Questions**

Vamsi Krishna asks
Why don't you share your photos?
Well, this is one question many have asked me and many have been wondering for a long time too. In the beginning I didn't think my photos were good enough to be shared. Then I figured they were fine but trip after trip was keeping me busy enough not to find time for processing the pictures at all. And this continues to happen till date. I find little time to work on pictures and so it takes forever for me to publish them. But to be honest, at the back of my mind I also feel like my best work should only be seen when published elsewhere. I also understand that art of any kind flourishes when allowed to be seen freely, which is what I try to do these days. Publish few, but good photos. I am not there yet, but I am trying to get there! I do have a photography website where I upload my work regularly, but for some reason I haven't been able to get myself to share it. But I think about time, you can follow my latest work here - neelimav.photoshelter.com

I do not come from a school of thought where I think all the images from a trip should be released. I like to showcase only the best from a collection even if that means very few, but I will make sure these are the very best ones. So you can never expect an entire picasa or flickr album from me! :)

Adarsh J Raju asks
How are you managing these leaves so often!
Most of it is explained here - How in the hell do I manage to get so many leaves?
But beyond that I can only say sometimes I do tend to get lucky! For instance the latest Nagaland trip happened because Monday and Tuesday were public holidays and Wednesday and Thursday were optional. I saved up these optional leaves since the beginning of the year and took all four at once in November for Diwali, Balipadyami and Moharram all together giving me 6 days of leave in a row. Come to think of it, it all comes to down to planning in the end and maybe a little luck! ;)

Thennarasu asks

When do get to see your travel videos like the ones in your previous post - 7 Travel Videos : Inspiration From Around The World?
While I am big fan of such awesome travel videos, I have to admit I am not any good at it at the moment. And it is going to take considerable effort from my side to come up with something like that. Given the fact that I am currently occupied with traveling, blogging, photography and writing, I do not think I should take on any new interests right now. I am barely managing to keep up with these things. So the answer is, not in the near future, the thought stays though.

Vinay asks
How much of editing goes into your photos and what tools do you use?
I am a strong advocate of editing and processing pictures to get the best out of the images. I predominantly work with adjustments in Shadows/Highlights and and I am a big fan of burning and dodging. Also I do like colors to pop considering I shoot landscapes the most. So I have changed the contrast/sharpness/saturation settings drastically in my camera to produce high contrast high saturation images straight out of the camera.

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Vijay Kulkarni asks 

How do you manage the work and photography ? Right now I work for xyz(name changed) and don't find time to go around.

Here's how - How in the hell do I manage to get so many leaves?

Beyond this, I can only say if you really want to do something, you will find a way, else you will find an excuse. For instance leaving for a trek on a Friday night and coming back to office on Monday leaves one with no spare time but that is a price most weekend travelers are willing to pay in exchange for some brilliant travel moments. You have to work with what you have got!

Do you plan to arrange a basic photography session in Bangalore ?

At this point, no. If I ever do that, I will announce it here.

Where should I start with photography ? Any recommendations ?

I would say Digital Photography School is a good place to start with. The older articles are especially good to gain an understanding of the technical aspects of photography. I would also suggest looking through images on flickr/500px to gain an understanding of different kinds of photography. In this process you might also realize which genre interests you, such as Landscapes or Night Photography or Macro or Portraits. Then practice and more practice. 

Can I join with you for travel photography sessions ?

I do not conduct any travel photography sessions. Photography is just part of my travels at this point. Like I said, if anything, I would announce here.

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Jinu John asks 

Let's say there is some place which is on top of your wishlist, a place that you have been trying really hard to go to. Finally you do get a chance to visit that place but exactly at the same time some other important engagement comes up such as a friend's/relative's marriage or project delivery. What will you do - stay back or go ahead? 

Hmm, so far I have always chosen travel. :) 

My definition of important engagement and the generally accepted definition doesn't really match. But if I am really needed I will stay back. 

I leave for another trip next week and a very good friend of mine is getting married at the same time which I am missing. So maybe that answers the question.

Girish N asks

What filters does your photography kit usually carry?

Two Cokin Graduated Neutral Density Filter

77mm Hoya Circular Polarizer

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Abhishek Kurasala asks 

What camera and lens do you use ?

Canon EOS 500D and Tokina 11-16mm.

With this, I hope I have answered all the questions that were sent to me. 

Let me know if you liked the Ask me Anything posts. :)

Few days ago I posted here that you could Ask me Anything and I'll answer. As promised here are your answers. Thank you all for participating! :)

Renuka asks “I want to know about your most challenging travel experience in terms of photography.”

I have to say photographing in the outdoors during monsoons was the second toughest, first being taking portraits of strangers, which is why I started The 100 Strangers Project. Coming back to the monsoons, with the incessant rain, cloudy overcast weather, patchy light conditions, setting up the tripod in the rain, trying to protect the camera from getting wet, dealing with the water droplets on the lens, adjusting the graduated ND filter with one hand and holding the umbrella in the other, I had the toughest times in Sikkim. But thankfully all the effort paid off and I learned the camera can take much abuse! ;)

After that trip, I took the decision to photograph in the rains no matter what, because monsoons bring out the best in the nature. Looking at Sikkim and Madikeri pictures, I think I am getting the hang of it.

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Vignesh Krish asks 

Is there any place that you wished you had NOT visited?

Yes, I wished I hadn’t visited Manali in 2008. I had nothing against the place, except that after a bone breaking epic 20hr journey from Leh to Manali, the hawkers who surrounded our vehicle as soon as we reached Manali, refused to leave until we took a room and fought around us was a stark contrast from the peaceful times in Ladakh and that irritated me a lot. Over the next few visits I quite enjoyed Manali though.

Have you encountered any dangers, during your travel? If so, how did you overcome it?

All the dangers that I have managed to survive are now referred to as adventures. ;)

Jokes apart, the one time that a group of us encountered a lone wild elephant while trekking in Western Ghats freaked me out completely. Even cats and dogs scare me, so you can imagine my plight. There wasn’t much that we could do. The elephant was on the hill below us and we had to get down, we stood there looking at each other and wondering what to do. After a while we realized we have to get down somehow, so we walked straight and got down the hill further ahead, away from the elephant. But all the time my heart was racing like a maniac and it didn’t calm down until we reached the village nearby. Only to have another heart attack when the villagers told us quite recently an elephant had turned rogue and was found wandering alone in the ghats!

Ever been to a jungle safari? Or do you have one such plan in your wish book?

Yes, I have been on few safaris in Corbett National Park but I am not a big fan of safaris. I prefer a more intimate way of exploring the place on foot if possible.

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Vipin asks

I know some people travelling full time (after resigning their job). Do you plan to do that sometime in future?

I would love to do that but maybe not immediately.

Which was the most hardcore trek you have ever done?

The first step is the hardest, they say. My first tough trek was the toughest. To trek without a trail, getting lost in the forest known to have gotten people killed, walking in the night in a place full of vipers, crossing waist deep streams after dark, camping in the middle of the forest with nothing but a tarpaulin over my head kept me in a constant state of fear for the two days. But after that experience I learned forests were not as scary as I had imagined. I went on many difficult treks that tested me in many ways but I think that first step in realizing these things can be done and getting past that mental block was the hardest. So I consider my trek to Ombattu Gudda in my early days of trekking as the hardest trek I did.

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Sandeep, Anusha and Pavithra ask “Can I join you on your travels?”

It is practically not possible for me to take people with me on treks, because I don’t organize treks or trips. I do not have a group either. What I do have is a lot of friends and connections through the adventure clubs listed above. I suggest go on treks with these clubs, you will meet enough like minded people. That’s how I got started.

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Anonymous asks

How do you remain safe travelling alone as a woman? I'd love to go all over India and any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hmm, I do not have a specific answer but in general I’d suggest not to think in terms of what is safe for a woman, just think what is safe and what is not. Keep in touch with someone back home and listen to your gut feeling, most probably your instincts are right. Get out of any situation that worries you and remember that people in general are friendly. I suggest using public transport for both financial and safety reasons. Begin with solo-travel-friendly destinations such as Ladakh or Spiti or Rajasthan and get familiar with the idea of traveling alone. Do your homework before leaving for the destination, coming across as a woman who knows the place already will reduce the risks of being conned. You can also consider joining a group or an organized trip. As you gain more experience and get comfortable traveling alone, you will trust in your capabilities that much more. The internet is full of advice but I believe you can be your best teacher in this case.

What's your favourite place in India so far?

If you would’ve asked me this question 2 years ago, I would have answered Himalayas in the split of a second. But after traveling to all corners of our country I can’t answer this question with one place. I loved all the places that were serene, pristine and beautiful. On second thoughts, I think I would still say Himalayas. :)

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Manu Ponnappa asks

How do you prepare your itinerary when you decide a location? I mean when you finalize a place, how do you find unexplored places over there. I know you use Google (Read in your blog), but how exactly do you search for such places?

I do a lot of reading before I go on any trip. More than mainstream travel articles, local blogs contain information about off beat places. Googling helps in this matter. I don’t click on the well known web addresses. Instead I click on the .blogspot or .wordpress search results. I believe there is one google blog search too. I only book my flight tickets and keep the rest of the itinerary flexible. Once you reach a place, locals can help you plan your itinerary. Ask them, talk to them, they are the best guides around. Like in Rajasthan, I wanted to see ruins of havelis. So I told my guide exactly and specifically what I wanted to see and I also told him I don’t mind going away from the touristy destinations. Knowledgeable that he was, he directed me to some spectacular ruins where very few had gone before. Sometimes not finding any information online about some place suggests that it is offbeat. You may take a chance and find out yourself if it is worth visiting or not. For instance there wasn’t much information available about Little Andaman, so by default very few visit that place. I took a chance and landed there a few weeks ago and it was one of the best places I’ve been to.

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Senthil asks me about my camera gear.

Currently I shoot with a Canon EOS 500D and a Tokina 11-16mm Wide Angle Lens.

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Santhosh Krishnan asks

Is there any place which you are dying to visit in India? If any, what is the reason?

I really want to spend a winter in Spiti. The ease of access and the spectacular beauty of this Himalayan kingdom make Spiti an easy favorite. I have also heard from the locals that Mudh, the last village in Pin Valley National Park is cut off from the rest of the world during winters. The only way out is by walking on the frozen river for 40kms. I want to see how they survive the harsh winters.

Which is your favourite Western Ghats destination and why? (I know whole WG is beautiful, is there any particular fav place?)

As you said, the entire stretch of Western Ghats is enchanting. However, if I have to pick one, I’d say Kodachadri or Narasimha Parvatha, for the sole reason that these places showed me clouds beneath my feet!

Please add more details in your blog as to how to reach, where to stay and other travel tips. It would be helpful for us to plan trips along with some eco - friendly tips and suggestions.

Yes, I want to do this but it has been crazy of late and I am not able to write as much as I would’ve wanted to. I will try to add more help sections, guides and my two cents on eco friendly travel.

First to give a short update, I just came back from an amazing trip to Andaman and I have lots of stories to tell and lots of photos to show. But have been really busy at work so that'll have to wait a bit. On another note, 5 of my images have been published in National Geographic Traveller October Issue. To be associated with NatGeo in any small way has always been the dream and I hope to take it forward more in the coming months.

That said, I have been seeing a lot of bloggers doing Ask me Anything posts, so I thought you might have some questions for me too? Ask me about my travels or photography or solo travel or adventures or whatever you want to know. I promise to answer all appropriate questions.

You can send me your questions in the following ways -

Life teaches us lessons in many ways. But we choose to understand only when it is told in a way we like. Years of education and years of corporate life didn’t teach me what travel taught me in few years. Here’s what I learned.

It is okay to take risks. In fact it is a good thing to take risks. There can be only two outcomes. If it goes well you will have an amazing experience and if it doesn’t you’ll have a good learning to take back with you.  Everyone warned me against going to Sikkim in monsoons but I did anyway. That was probably one of the best trips of my life till date. It is okay to take risks. It pays off well half the time!

The thing about travel is it forces you out of your comfort zone. Travel makes you do things you never thought you could do. It shows you the strength you never thought you had. I never thought I could travel solo, until I did. So next time I find myself wondering if I can do something new, I’ll just go ahead and try it.

Again back to Sikkim, looks like that one trip taught me lots! Despite the bad weather we proceeded towards Gurudongmar Lake after many days of wait. The day looked no better. The roads were totally deserted and it rained all the time. But we went ahead anyway. Just as we reached the lake, the sky cleared, the sun shined and the lake dazzled. The army guys posted there said it hasn’t been sunny in days. Looks like lady luck smiles on those who dare. Oh wait, I think it is who dares wins! :)

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” is what a very wise person said. I thought so many places were boring before I visited them. But every such place only managed to surprise me and change my opinion. What was I thinking anyway in forming ideas without knowing anything about those places? Having an open mind can not only make travel better but also it can make our lives easier and better. Appearances can be deceptive, next time I will try not to judge a book by its cover.

A smile can take you a long way. If you are traveling most of the time, being grumpy is not an option. Smile is the universal language, everyone can understand it and the best thing is, it is totally free! Next time around, smile at that lady in the store or that bus conductor. I promise you will feel good.

We have seen countless movies and million matches where the game turns around in the very last moment. That is the secret of success, never giving up, until the very end. In Sikkim, last year, most of the roads reported landslides. Our driver was happy to know that because he thought he could take us back to Gangtok and take leave. But we refused. We wanted to go see it ourselves. He and his friends mocked us for our ignorance. But once we reached the landslide area, the army had just opened the road. It was cleared. “In your face losers!” is what we thought.

Before I used to travel, I had the patience to last about a second. Every second I had to wait for the bus irritated me and anger was a constant companion. Then I started waiting at the airports to catch the flight. Today if I have to wait, I wouldn’t mind, I will write a post meanwhile or maybe just catch a nap but I certainly won’t go crazy like I used to earlier.

Because I am oh-so-patient now, I don’t mind waiting. Oh wait, I told you that already. So now-a-days I am in no hurry to rush somewhere. I take my time, like that weekend where few of us patiently waited for the sunset. We didn’t know something good would come, but we waited. And just as expected, a brilliant scene was unfolding in front of us. The rest, who left, missed the clouds, not us, because we waited.

After years, if you sit down and correlate all the events, in most cases it turns out everything that happened, happened for the best. I certainly don’t mean resign to your fate and do nothing. But when despite your best efforts things go wrong, wait it out, something good will come out of it. When I fell sick and had to miss the Stok Kangri Trek, I went to an unlikely destination. That was super fun and today I get my chance again to summit the missed mountain. Now that worked out well, didn’t it?

Truer words have not been spoken. We all are social beings after all. I come back and share my stories with you, with my friends, with my family. We have to share, share our love, experiences, knowledge, curiosities and happiness. Only then it makes our life worthwhile.

It is quite easy to take everything for granted without appreciating its value. When we travel, we see how fortunate we have been to have what we have. There are many people who don’t have access to half the conveniences we enjoy.

When you live out of a backpack for a month you’ll understand how less we actually need to live. And when you come back and try to clean your room, you’ll understand how much of rubbish we have accumulated under the illusion that we need so many things to live.

Being silly is the best way to have fun, seriously! When my friend said she wants to stand on the standing camel, we all had incredulous looks on our faces, both my friends and the camel owner. But she did stand on the 8 foot animal and then she fell down from that height too. Later I stood on it as well. It was so much fun!

You can’t plan your life. Heck, you can’t even plan a two week trip and expect everything to happen accordingly, let alone a plan that will stand good for a 100 years. Change is constant, embrace it. Without that surprise at the corner of the road, life will be quite drab, don’t you think?

There are so many times during travel when we feel scared. “Why didn’t I stay back at the hotel tonight?” “Why didn’t I choose a safer destination?” “Why didn’t I inform someone I am coming here?” “Why am I here instead of the comforts of my home?” But every mistake you do is a lesson learned. Every bad situation you got out of only made you stronger and wiser. But please, just don’t repeat the same mistake again! ;)