Category: Travels
This part of my writing is dedicated to those random thoughts, searches, tips, cheat codes, in-the-air-planning, and anything which is not part of the rest of that categories to say so ;)
Day One at “Parvati Valley” – Amsterdam of India
Perks of going Solo ;)
Almost after 3 years of writing the first post and sitting in amongst COVID19 restrictions seems to be the best time to reminisce the perks of going solo ;)
So here it is.. from my experience to the comfort of your digital media.
- You learn to face yourself – Yes, it is true. No matter how much others may tell you, how and what you are, we don’t really believe them. Which is of course how humans are. But trust me when you are out there alone, you realise how much of that was true. So being able to cope with our self is the first thing that solo travels blesses you with.
- You get creative – Surprisingly even the most dull person becomes creative and solution oriented when it comes to survival and finding your way out on your own. Cause remember – you are solo :)
- You learn to seek help – Believe it or not, most of us are self proclaimed self sufficient when it comes to deciding and doing things on our own. But when you are out there on a strange land, street, room, or a restaurant – you learn to ask how, where, what, why to even strangest of the people. This by the way is my favourite PERK !!! I love stranger conversations.
- You perceive better – The lens of perception is the key to our daily living and solo travel changes/adds to it magnificently. The time spent at each and every place, with each person you meet, they stories you hear, the connections you make changes you as a person. This is a life changing experience.
- You are liberated – Once you have stepped out alone into a strange world and made your way into it, there is nothing in this world that you cannot do. This is very true for people who live on their own, away from families, for work or to study. They know what am talking about. It makes your strong, self reliant and independent.
Being a ambivert, the course of my solo travel has been due to sheer want to get away from my usual life. To take a break from everything and to start afresh every time. To me, these solo experiences bring a lot of comfort, positivity, greater perspective and willingness to continue and live life each day.
I hope these little perks, give you that long pending push and go out as soon as its safe to do so !! If not, may be the picture will do the trick 😀
The Magical Land of Snow – Russia
It not only feels different getting out of your comfort zone but its liberating to know that you tried and got out to live & explore the unknown. It could be walking to a street less known, to eat at a place unfamiliar, or to be step onto a land completely strange.
I have always been fascinated by those Christmas carols, that over the top decorated church’s and beautiful christmasy feeling. Santa Claus, the gifts, the stories or the myths, reindeer or the ELF :) It all, always felt special. Well, am sure by this time you might categorize me into one of those kids who aren’t facing the reality of being a mature elder and informed human, but to all that matters, these stated joyous or curiosity is what led me to Russia.
December : The perfect vacation time for a much worked IT Professional, if I may say so. When I decided in the mid of the year 2016, that I wanted to travel on budget, wake up to a snow filled view each morning and step into Europe, I landed up deciding Russia as my destination.
Russia, with all its history has known to be an uncommon place for tourism until recently. A place where English is not only sparsely spoken but also negligibly used on sign boards. I had a hard time convincing or even sharing with people who am travelling to Russia SOLO. I was struck with awe almost every time and with a advise to make a change in plan. But I think that’s what drew me to Russia more. I wanted to feel that strangeness which people talk about, the black and white Russian Winters and the little less known Russian Culture.
The first thing I did was to book a to and fro tickets before I change my mind. A non-refundable travel ticket always makes it hard to cancel a plan for a hard earning women. And hence, I grounded myself. Next was to find all about the visa details and how to get the passport stamped. So I read, all the requirements, paper work, letters, everything that is needed for me to obtain the visa grant. Here is the crisp list:
- To and fro confirmed flight tickets (I chose Aeroflot, usually the cheapest from New Delhi, try skyscanner, rome2rio or kayak to check the prices)
- Valid Passport with at least 6 months to expire
- Picture as per Russian Embassy Specification
- Invite letter with voucher code from a registered travel agency in Russia (Easily available from any hostel, hotel based in Russia for about 1500 Rouble, you may get it free or complimentary if you have booked an expensive hotel)
- Itinerary for your trip (where you will stay and for how long)
There is only two places where you can submit your documents to attain Russian visa and here are their links.
I had opted for IFS as it was easier to get to in New Delhi. It was easier than it even seemed, I got my visa stamped in 4 working days. You can get visa on urgent basis too with a little more fees if that’s reasoned well during form submission.
To be continued…
The Plan is On !
How it all started eh? Well lets just say it was a build up and like they say once you have to, you get going. So it started with a thought of actually making it to international borders after having my UK visa rejected for some obvious reasons for which details will be provided separately. Now since it was already May 2015 and was time to decide for the year end vacations which matters most since my Birthday season too :P. So keeping in mind the below pointers I took my DECISION.
-
The Currency, the money, the powers which beholds the world ; lol
While making any travel plans ever the first thing which always hits you even before your destination is the budget. The Budget. Well in my case I think its been pretty straight forward, I always first see how much I can spend on the trip being thought of. This is the key factor in deciding any or all of my trips. So with my budget being around 50K – 60K INR. I had to decide something that gets done within this limit for 12 days during year end. Locked.
-
The Options !
Trust me when you get started with this, its a hard discussion. Best part it was for me to decide, hence not so time consuming else a discussion with families, friends, fiancé can be one hell of a task. keeping my goals (aboard, budget, first time solo travel and safety..(well duh, an Indian girl alone!! That too Muslim, breaking rules)) I decided to stick to Asia. Now as if Asia is small enough (lame joke) I figured my options, am not great fan of beaches, no Thailand, Indonesia naahh. Singapore, outside budget then !! Malaysia?? Well, yes why not I have few friends which I made while my professional tenure at the biggest Infrastructure firm around the globe and I think it was good choice. Conversion rate was like 1 Ringgit = 15 INR. This did made sense. Decided.
-
Fixing the chosen destination into budget ensuring good stay & flight.
This is the my favorite thing to do under planning !!! The stay & flight :) Hotel, B&B or Hostel. My friends during the hardships are Booking.com, Trivago.com, AirBnB, Skyscanner.com, Rome2rio.com, Tripadvisor.com, and The Google. The mind glowing prices ;) and breakthrough results after hours of research did led me to finding great places to stay and a good budget flight (Could have been cheaper though if AirAsia & I were in sync with their Sale timings)
Details of my flights and stay will be disclosed (as you may say) in chapters to follow.
-
The Stamp, The permit, Yes The VISA
Google indeed sets the path for you. Since this post is being written after the fact, currently the Malaysian Tourist Visa is available to be applied online. Yayy. That’s right.
Though I had to physically go and submit the same documents at the VFS Centre New Delhi in the Year 2015 and later in the year 2016 the VFS Centre was moved to Chandigarh for manual application submission. Getting the process completed online is a great way to ease application process.
My Visa did get stamped, incase if you’ll are wondering about that stat ;)
See you on the Next Page !! With more details.