Quitting your job to travel is so bygone!

Last year, despite my full-time job, 3 hours of Thane-to-Andheri travel and newly acquired role of wife, daughter-in-law etc., I visited 15 cities- no kidding!

On 1st January 2018, husband and I were at Disneyland Paris for our honeymoon grand finale and then we hit the road with our travel-ventures through the year. I struck off more than half a dozen to-dos which are on everyone's bucket-list and here’s how my year unfolded with these travel-firsts:

• Travelled to the most cliched place in India — It was only when I went to Eiffel Tower, that I realised that I’d never been to Taj Mahal - one of the most exquisite man-made structures on Earth. On our anniversary, I checked that off from my travel list.

• Travelled with my sibling — Sister and I took a spontaneous trip to explore the touristy side of Jaipur. We bonded and explored a ton of stuff about each other as well.

• Boarded at a Hostel — At Jaipur, sister and I crashed at Zostel in a 6 bunk bed dorms, became friends with two really sweet girls from Hyderabad, satiated our mid-night Maggi cravings and played dare with 8 strangers around a bonfire. Little did we know before we started playing that one of them was from my current office and another - an alum of my sister’s college. I’ve met fellow Mumbaikars on all my trips — Finland, Russia, Agra and the works! Wherever I go, my Mumbai follows me.

• Finally, started my travel blog- Because of my travel spree, I have unlimited content to share and so I started my travel blog, with the underlying intention to bust travel myths and encourage everyone around me to travel, travel and travel.
• Travelled with my family- My husband and I have pledged to plan our subsequent travel before we execute the next one and we have been successful in keeping that promise. In fact, my family is a bunch of gallivanters. We keep planning trips — short and long ones — to steal some family time for ourselves in our fast-paced lives.

• Did our first bike trip- The real reason that my husband (then boyfriend) finally decided to bite the dust was that he wanted to take me on a bike trip and my parents would not let me do so till we got married. Within 3 months of our marriage, my Aai gifted me riding gear and we were off on our first bike ride. Biking, I realised, is a form of extreme tourism, it is almost a sport and if you’re not sporty enough then it’s not your cuppa tea.

• Tasted new cuisines-The one thing that I learnt about husband while travelling is that for him food is synonymous with enjoyment. If there’s no good food, he sulks. On our travels, we like to experiment with our taste buds, though I am quite timid, the husband usually goes all out in this area. From Reindeer to Caviar and from Finnish to Uzbeki cuisine, we tried it all.

• Tried new beer- On our travels, the husband and I keep looking for different poisons for quenching our thirst. The last I counted, we have tasted 57 varieties of bottled beers and a countless number of craft beers.

• Treated us to one of the best restaurants in India- When husband and I celebrate, we believe in getting the house down. We grow an appetite for luxury when we travel and never compromise on experiences. On our anniversary trip, we went to Indian Accent, one of the top restaurants in India and truly had the most memorable 7-course meal of our lives.

Tossing between my frenzy life-style and hectic schedule, travelling is an avocation that helps me relax, unwind and look forward to my tumultuous life (or not). I could never leave my job and travel because I truly love what I do but travelling gives me a sense of satisfaction and achievement — that I deserve this break!