LIFE LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH TRAVEL

What is the importance of travel in your life?

Sagarika: Travelling is important because it takes you out of your comfort zone, gives you an opportunity to explore new places, experience new cultures, interact with new people and see different parts of the world. It also helps us unwind and rejuvenate. Travel allows us to live in the moment and gives us time to reflect on what’s truly important in life. Travelling expands your mind and horizons and gives you memories for life.

Siddhartha: Travel for me is balance. Staying in the city, life here is mechanical. One gets exhausted easily. I always make my schedule for a month in such a way that I take 2-3 days off every month to travel. It could be a new place where I can discover something new or a place I return to get away from the city chaos.

Aayusha: It gives me an opportunity to get new experiences and widen my perspective. It’s a great way to relax and unwind. You can also build resilience as you never know what experience or situation you may end up having, but you learn to move through it. It helps me to connect with myself.

Shishir: Travel has been a core part of my life. It has always intrigued me to experience different cultures, traditions and lifestyles around the globe. I believe travel makes me independent, rejuvenated and motivated toward life. It is also a way for me to energise myself and something to look forward to.

How often do you travel? What was the last place you travelled To?

Sagarika: I used to travel mostly for work and short vacations back in Nepal, but this year has been crazy. I have been travelling all year long. The last place I travelled was back to Nepal for Dashain and an event I was hosting. Right before that, I went to a few places in Europe (Amsterdam, Paris and Belgium), and I then spent the rest of my summer holidays travelling with my parents to New York, Washington DC, and Virginia. My favourite city is New York I love the vibe there.

Siddhartha: My work takes me places. That’s the beauty of food blogging. I travel in the country often, sometimes every week. Whenever I feel like eating fish from Begnas or chatpatey from Chitwan, I tend to take a few days off for it. Yes, I travel for food.

Aayusha: I make a point to travel twice a year. I travelled last to Chandigarh, India for a wedding.
Shishir: I try travelling at least three to four times a year and have travelled to 30+ countries. The last place I travelled to was France and Netherlands this summer.

Life lessons that we can learn only through travel

Sagarika: Travelling helps us appreciate how big the world is and inspires us to live fully and explore without inhibitions. Travelling also boosts our self-esteem. From time management to budgeting, navigating to crisis management, making new friends to staying safe from strangers, everything is on you. Travel helps you realise you are far more capable than you give yourself credit for. It makes you believe in yourself. Your travel journey could become one of the most transformative experiences of your life.

Siddhartha: I think everyone should travel to a new place once a year to leave your comfort zone and try new things in life. Travel teaches you not to sweat the small stuff. Making friends with strangers, taking nature seriously, appreciating little things travelling makes you believe you are more capable than you thought. I travel and get to know so many interesting stories through food.

Aayusha: To live in the moment, not dwell in the past, and to know that now is the moment, travel has taught me a lot. The most important of all, life is short and you should make most memories while you are here in this beautiful world.

Shishir: Meeting new people and sharing life experiences have always been a core part of my travel. In 2017, I hitchhiked and used couch surfing in the Blue Banana part of Europe. While hitchhiking I almost got kidnapped, got mistaken for a refugee trying to cross the border, met a billionaire who gave me a lift in his car, ended up in a US Air Force base in Germany, and met up with several people learning about their life experiences. Travel makes a person independent and enhances problem-solving skills. Furthermore, we get to learn the differences and similarities between various cultures, religions and races.

Does social media influence your travel?

Sagarika: Yes, absolutely. When I see my friends post pictures on social media of a holiday, I get the urge to visit those places as well. Their posts help me discover new places and add them to my bucket list. Social media posts make it much easier to learn about new places to eat, shop, explore and stay. Second, my travel is incomplete without posting pictures online. Like everybody, I want to come back home with an album full of aesthetic and ‘Instagrammable’ holiday photos. Sometimes I feel more stressed about getting the perfect shot rather than simply enjoying the moment. So, I have to consciously stop using my phone and focus on making memories.

Siddhartha: Definitely. The beauty of social media is that we get to understand so many unexplored places. For instance, I had to visit Sudurpaschim for one of my projects. I was unaware about the far west culture and food. But social media videos of Ghumante, blogs of many people, YouTube videos, helped me make a solid trip to the far west. Also, I post many unexplored eateries in my blog and that way I connect to so many people and their food to the world.

Aayusha: Yes it does.

Shishir: In the 21st century, everyone is influenced in one or the other way via social media. I do go over Instagram and TikTok to find various touristic spots when I travel to a certain country. Furthermore, there are a few iconic places and activities which have been inspired by social media. For example: New Years in Times Square, Skiing in the Swiss Alps, Northern Lights in Norway, Blue whale Watching in Canada, etc.

Must haves for leisure travel

Sagarika: Comfortable sneakers, sunglasses, sunscreen, charger and a water bottle.

Siddhartha: My travel routine is very spontaneous. I don’t plan hence I always tend to buy things on the road which I like because that makes me very local to the place I go.

Aayusha: Good food, good music, good company and many days of exploring one destination.

Shishir: Good company unless you are comfortable travelling alone, a general sense of direction and skills in reading a map, a bit of savings, and a boss who is willing to give you a few days off.