Travelling alone is not just it but gathering experience, discovering places, knowing people and learning. Once we are out of the safe boundaries of our home, it’s all mishappenings, adventures, hindrances and mistakes that surround us. A traveller is the one who lives the adventures, conquers the hindrances and learns from the mistakes to reach his/her destination for the air of satisfaction that is not given by the destination but the exploration. There are many bloggers from India who have made travelling their passion and writing about them an integral part of it. Let’s take a glimpse at some of them, their life, and their journey.
Ankita Sinha
She is as free as a bird and as keen as a hunter. She is the stylish, she is a traveller. Ankita Sinha is actually one of the stylish travellers India has ever witnessed. Adding names to the travel list is way too mainstream what she believes in is exploring and discovering places in the globe, and this hunger of hers has taken her to 7 countries including 12 international destinations. One of the most amazing facts about this young traveller is that she has covered all this in a span of just 2 years and since then formal invitations have poured in from Visit Britain, Visit Scotland, Canada Tourism, Thailand Tourism and several others.
Her blog anki ON THE MOVE shares experiences from her own travels and tours that spans across places like Tamara, Jobel Shams, Muscat, Oman and Dubai. She is a nature lover too and that’s evident from what she writes in her blog posts. She is even a hardcore trekker and her post about her trip to Nizwa, Oman describes that beautifully.
Anuradha Goyal
“Translating her fervour into her life work, Anuradha Goyal motivates others with her book and travel writing.”
She also loves citywalking and has been the organiser of various walks to places beholding important historical significance. An innovation Consultant by profession, writer and reader by passion, this traveller woman has lived in many countries and has been into blogging since the last 8 years. Her blog was rated as one of the “50 best travel blogs” around the world.
Her blog Anuradha Goyal mainly consists of motivational and life changing posts from the vibrant author along with posts on business solutions etc. But what mainly occupies the panel are the write ups on travel and places that she has encountered and explored.
Anuradha Shankar
A traveller by passion, this lady holds interest in the culture and tradition of India and that further found increase in the knowledge in her visit to Kashi which made her realise the heart and identity of Indian culture. Her blogging found a way while she thought to write about Kashi and thus Kashi Yatra came to the fore. She is a housewife, a mother, a bookworm and an aspiring freelance writer.
Her blog ‘Wandering Mind’ is filled up with her shares of experiences from her travels and few other things. She is a path deviated scientist but now her wholesome interest lies into travelling and writing.
Lakshmi Sharath
Going to a place directed by the map is something done by all; Lakshmi prefers to live her a bit off the edge by discovering hidden temples and villages which are not found on any map. After giving an end to her 12 year old corporate life, she has now taken travelling and writing as her passion. Lakshmi Sharath had also been nominated for the Indian Blogger awards. She can roam about the world but her heart lies in the small villages and hidden temples of India. She writes in a way that is insightful and helpful.
“A travel blog of an Indian backpacker – journeys around India, travels around the world, people and places.” Her blog says so. Her write ups in her blog span across Bali, Kerala, Angkor Thom etc. She writes about what she encounters during her journey, her experiences from the travels and so on. Her writings alongside being informative are also interesting.
Mridula Dwiwedi
“Travel Tales from India” is known by her face. Mridula Dwiwedi is a traveller by passion and also contributes to writing travel blogs. Her blog has been claimed as the ‘Best Travel India Blog’ at the India Weblog Awards 2009. Her appreciation also came from the BBC and also The Gurdian. Mridula along with travelling and writing is an Assistant Professor of Human Resource Management at Gurgaon.
She contributes to the blog “GoNOMAD”. She brings out the beauty of nature from the places she visits and that is quite evident from her blogs.
Neelima Vallangi
An off the edge traveller and an adventure enthusiast, Neelima doesn’t like travelling to the usual destinations but wishes to explore the places yet unknown or less known. Trekking and cycling in the mountains have always enthralled her. Neelima has trekked widely in the Himalayas and her cycling expeditions include places like the Western Ghats. The fall of 2008 took her to Ladakh and that trip turned her into an irreversible travel addict. She loves writing about her experiences of unravelling unexplored places and she also includes in her blogs a whole lot of photo-essays.
“The wandering soul’s wander tales…” talks about her journeys from Madras to Ladakh to Dandeli and to a hell lot of other places. Her first adventure expedition to Ladakh, her experience of walking on a frozen river and her Wild Expedition at Dandeli all are beautifully told in her blog. Her blogs exhibit her love for the mountains and for the ghats.
Shivya Nath
She is young, she is smart, she is tough and she loves discovering places no one else knows about. Shivya Nath is a new age travel enthusiast. She inspires women to be independent and be able to go on lone-trips to places unknown. Leaving her corporate life behind this lady takes on travelling as her passion as well as her profession. Been to more than 20 countries across 4 continents, Shivya Nath also writes for a number of online and offline publications.
“Shooting Star” speaks about her take on life as an independent women and a lone traveller and also inspires other women who want such a life but fear. Her nature of being carefree and living life offbeat is quite visible from her blog.
Aarti KrishnaKumar
This lady had been a trained software professional then a soft skills trainer and ultimately she found her bliss in writing. “I quit my 9 years of corporate life to do my own thing!” she says.
Her blog “Wandering Soul” traces her journey from Jaipur to Sri Lanka, from Madurai to Amritsar and from places innumerable to places innumerable. Her blogs are enough to let the people know that she is a travel freak. She loves animals and nature.
Snigdha Jain
“I (along with my sister) have backpacked across numerous cities in the hidden Jewels of Europe – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Solvenia and Hungary”, says the lady traveller.
An avid traveller, an amateurish photographer and a travel blogger based in Mumbai, Snigdha Jain is no spoilsport. She manages her Job carries the burden of loans to pay and sets to unravel the culture, tradition and identity of places with her camera and a backpack. Visiting rural and eco destinations have always been on the top of her travel list. She feels it’s the local culture, the local food and the local people that beautify a place and thus places should be judged solely on these parameters because these parameters are the one which give identity to a place.
Get Set and Go speaks about her journeys and also tells about her funda of travelling “always travel budget, yet comfortable and there’s no place that cannot be visited for it’s too expensive.” She has managed to travel keeping this motto of hers uplifted. Her blog spans across India and 15other countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Ruchika Vyas
Ruchika Vyas works as a travel columnist with iDiva. A traveller by passion this lady is also an avid traveller and her travel list spans across the world. In her early writing career she freelanced for publications like Mumbai mirror, Jetwings (Jet Airways in-flight magazine) and Flylite (Jetlite’s in-flight magazine). She is also one of the co-authors of Outlook Travellers Getaways Book – Driving Holidays in India.
She contributes to her blog “Traveller Stories of India” sharing her experiences and adventures from the numerous trips she has undertaken to places such as Ladakh, Mcleodganj, Fort Kochi, Ooty, Coorg, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Pushkar, Shimla, Binsar, Kanatal, Mussorie, the tribal circuit of Sarahan-Sangla-Recong Peo-Kalpa-Chitkul in HP. Taking her travel list further we find Maldives, Bankok, Hong Kong, Dubai and lot many other destinations travelled by her. She also loves trying her hand at photography while on the move.
Tanu Anand
“Having born to parents with itchy feet and a love for travel, I started travelling at an age of 4 and caught on the travel bug pretty early in life.” Tanu Anand admits.
By the fall of her adulthood, she had all the experience in her bag and she started spending her days daydreaming about destinations and started working on travel itineraries. She admits that making itineraries is her favourite part of the travel. Having travelled extensively across the country and abroad she loves being a travel planner.
Her blog is all stuffed with her everyday adventures from her expeditions. She has travelled extensively around the nation and also left her footprints in some parts of Europe and South-East Asia. She has now shifted her focus point to London. She loves good food and also mentions them in her blogs. She considers herself as the travel guru for weekend getaways in Bangalore as she has lived there for 5 long years. Goa serves as her all-time favourite run-away. The beaches have some kind of unique eclectic vibes about them, she writes.
Arnab Maity
It started with a motorcycle trip to Bhutan which served as a life altering experience for the young man Arnab Maity. His friendship with the camera dates back to the time when he was 9. He thinks that the wanderer in him might have been born from his love for the nature. He has been a photographer to many NGOs and photo agencies but then he feels that to become a full-fledged photographer he has miles waiting to be tread.
“Life is too short, live it, get out of your couch and see the world”, his message to all the travel enthusiasts. A glimpse into his blogs and it’s all evident – his love to explore, his love to travel and see the world from point blank. By profession he is a photographer, a freelance writer and a personalized travel planner. He was featured by Lonely Planet as a travel blogger for 3 years and his photograph made its way to the World Wildlife Fund( WWF ).
Avni Iyer
The founder of Memory Maker, Avni Iyer is a travel enthusiast in a true sense. She also works as finance professional. Her tours have intensively been to India and abroad including various places that are not in the regular itineraries. Her shared trips include Leh : Ladakh, Rajasthan, Coorg, Dubai and lot many places. She says, “To escape being connected from the world through any electronic gadgets for 24hours and enjoying the echo’s on the tip of snow clad mountains living in tents and enjoying the bon-fire at a temperature of sub 10 degree Celsius is my memory maker.”
And her blog “Memory Maker” is also filled with some insights to the experiences of her own travel life.
Dianne Sharma Winter
Her obsession with India has always kept her on the roads in various places spanning the circumference of the world. Dianne Sharma Winter works on a life that allows her to travel, boosts her energy and creativity and compels her to be in a sporadic contact with her family. She longs for the path that reaches straight to the heart of her grandchildren who she thinks are growing at a very fast rate and scares her. She says, “we all take on a shape with which to experience life and I happen to believe that we get to experience life and I happen to believe that we get to experience as many shapes and forms and experiences as it takes for the souk to realize that we all are a part of the Universal Oneness which is the dream of the great creator.” It’s this belief of hers that has always kept her close to roaming. Her belief in action has become her life now and travel an indispensible part of it. She loves leading her life meandering through the scenic route instead of alongside the highway.