And we all know some basic travel needs, don’t we?

Small backpack or suitcase. (Travelling light has worked well if you aren’t in your carriage).  I load up my car with everything that I need.  But if it is using public transport, then all those extra kilos takes your energy away.  I have come to understand, that a lot of the stuff we carry, never gets used. Over the years my travel needs have changed and now, it’s just pieces that will help me deal with the outdoors that I pack, like good pair of walking shoes; this is an utter waste though in the coasts and beaches, I have for my very recent trip to the western coasts carried 2 pairs of slippers (the cheapest ones).  The best decision ever! Pick gears that suit the terrain are the mantra really!

What has probably made me the happiest is the impulse decisions, to seek and take the off-beat roads.  I have seen the best, met with the “sons (daughters too) of the soil”, true locals, and savoured the best foods.  So don’t worry about ticking off those places on the itinerary list, explore on the go! Believe me, you will not regret it.

My saviour!  The GPS and Maps. The best companion ever. But make sure to have, on the move, a stable internet connection. I carry a Jio dongle and it has served me good so far, Fingers Crossed!

There is a significant gift that I give myself and a travel goal, or field goal or outdoors goal, whatever one may wish to call it. A luxury holiday, at least once a year is a must. And why not? We all deserve it! Don’t We? We work hard and accomplish our responsibilities, to families, kids… why not unwind and get pampered? A Luxury Spa, a Luxury Nature stay… the list is big. So, choose from one of them and get onto some special treatment.

I remember one of my field trips, and it was a heck of a trip. I was doing fieldwork in Goa, for a research project, and believe me, did not get any time to holiday or even touch the waters of the lovely beaches! I probably know that a leisure travel trip is a must, even if our work takes us places because it’s work at the end of the day and it can be draining with little or no time to relax and unwind. On my Goa trip, I spent my late evenings typing out my day’s field data collection. Ah, this I will always remember.

Over the years my outlook too has changed, of Travel. It used to be, in the past years that I would visit a place, see the attractions, sleep and eat in a hotel and returned thinking, now let me tick off this place from the list (Not a bucket list really) … I would have not interacted with anyone probably. But I could not do this for long. Such trips don’t make any sense to me anymore. I gear up to embrace my journeys, in the now, soak in; the smells, the sights, the people, the food, the air…. It’s different. Pulling up in the middle of nowhere and sitting on the culverts, gazing at the vehicles pass by. Stopping by a fishing village and going about with the fisherfolk.    

I do it all!