It was a typical European setting—open green slopes, large mountain cows grazing and well manicured trees flanked the expressway. It wasn’t until the distinct wooden houses at the entry turns of Zakopane did I realise I was in Poland. In my mind, Poland was Warsaw’s rebuilt structures and Krakow’s agonising history. And then I saw…
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As a child, I fell often. The outdoors was my space and earth, my ally. Whether it was arbitrary running around with friends, or pretending to climb a mountain on a three-feet incline, or learning the life-changing skill of cycling, each scar on my body tells a different story. And each of these, I wear…
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It was a hot summer morning when I mailed Ishita Khanna, the co-founder of Ecosphere, a social enterprise in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. At that point, I was a desperate traveller at my workstation in Mumbai. After an exchange of 42 emails across months of planning, my first solo trip to Spiti was finalised. It was…
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As the wheels touched the runway of Leipzig/Halle Airport in Saxony, eastern most state of Germany, I could sense the cold weather outside from within the aircraft. My face, however, was gleaming like a spring blossom. I was ecstatic to finally be in Germany. Leipzig was first of my three destinations in Saxony. On assignment…
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After my session at a panel discussion last year, a number of women came up to me and asked what motivated me to travel by myself. I found myself giving various reasons why travelling solo works for me—it is liberating, I can wake up early, it helps me fish out personal stories of locals and…
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The grand grove of deodar in Jageshwar mirrored my idea of paradise. An undulating turn brought us to the Himalayan valley. Beside the concrete road, I heard a reticent stream trickle. And the ancient deodar trees rose stately from the earth to high skies. I stared at them from a half-opened passenger window of the…
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