How it started…

As a kid, I did not travel much except for our annual family vacation to Puri and Digha, the most popular beach destinations for the people who live in and around Kolkata. I took my first international flight when I was already 26. However, the seed was sown a long time ago. My father bought my sister and me a globe to keep us engaged with a simple puzzle game of finding a new place. The time I spent finding random places on that globe was long enough to fuel a kid’s curiosity about the faraway places. I used to wonder how I would feel in a place that I had never been to before, how different or the same people of those places would be. While kids of my age used to enjoy cartoons, I binge-watched travel shows on TV to find my answers. Later, thanks to my 10-year-long consulting job, I lived out of my suitcase for most of my life. I stayed in multiple cities across the world. Whenever I was in a new place, I explored nearby places despite the painfully long work hours. Back to the present, Tarun, my husband, shares the same passion for traveling the world. Well, I guess the universe planned everything to turn my childhood curiosity into my full-fledged love affair with traveling.

The difficulties…

Traveling comes with its own set of challenges. I often struggle to balance a full-time job and finances to keep traveling. Though the idea of being a digital nomad or hitchhiking around the world entices me now and then, I must admit I am guilty of enjoying the sense of having a stable place I call home and spending time with my loved ones. And, I love my job too. It pays for my travel expenses. I am still learning to manage a full-time job, time, money, and travel. At 30, I realized I had no real hobby other than traveling or planning my next vacation.