Why do I wander with passion?

Why do I travel the way I do? Why have I been living this life built around traveling? Why do I want to travel for such long periods of time? What gives me the courage to opt for such a untrodden path? These are some of the questions that have been posed to me by a good number of people (friends, family, people I meet on the road, blog readers, social followers and more). I have been writing on this blog for 7 years, but have never come out with my secrets and I think it is high time I came out with the truth.

There are 4 broad reasons to me wandering with passion:

1) Discovering my Hidden Self 



Life becomes so much more fruitful when you get to know what you want to do or at a more karmic level, what you were born to do. At many times in life, one goes through a feeling of emptiness. It was to fill this very emptiness that I wanted to travel, but when I traveled, I got to discover hidden traits to my personality, which I actually fell in love with and now, I travel more to keep discovering more of these hidden attributes to myself. A certain level of emptiness still remains, but I am discovering and learning so many new things that I am not bothered by the emptiness anymore. This has been my main inspiration to start traveling and one that helped me morph this passion into an actual career. It is not for those Facebook likes or those stamps on my passport, which sure do feel good by the way, but to know more about me, which for some weird reason seems to unfold when I am on the road.

2) ’Me’ or ‘Us’ Time

The world is truly becoming flat, but somewhere in all this flatness, we seem to have become too connected or should I say too tightly strung up into this world of gadgets, connections, social media and 365 days of being connected. Even though, I love all my online communication channels and social media, I am an old-school boy at heart, which means I like to go off the grid from time to time. Traveling alone or with a partner allows you that time to do the things that you like without absolutely any compulsions, make personal connections, travel and learn and so much more…all according to your own whims and fancies, which is perfect! Most of my travels have been ‘solo trips’ and to be honest, I have never ever felt alone on my trips. In fact, I am a perfect sum of all the connections that I have made and the experiences that I have lived over all these travel years. If I were to keep it short and simple, my solo travel journeys have always given me a profound ‘HIGH’!

3) Accelerated Learning Travel School

You should not be surprised if I tell you that I have learnt more in my years of traveling than in the years of formal education (school and university). What’s better is that travel offers an accelerated learning platform (sounds like a cliché corporate marketing jargon, but I had to use it…so please pardon me for that!) as you learn with absolutely no pressure of performing or delivering. As a person, I have always been a sucker for knowledge and when it comes to traveling, I seem to get all that learning on a mighty platter every single time. Cultures, languages, religions, geography, history, art, fashion, food, music, dance, economics, currencies, current state of affairs, race, colour, people, new activities and basically what not…I learn so much on every single trip. This could be a domestic or an international trip. The learning potential is always extremely high once you go off the path of your hotel, swimming pool, and tourist attractions.

4) Life is Short! Live it!

Again, a well-used phrase, but one that I believe in very much. I am 34 years old and in all probability I have lived half my life (especially in these days of high stress, pollution and pesticides). Like most of you, I have dreams, bucket-lists and travel to-dos and I want to live all those and create a fine story for myself (with the good, bad and ugly in it). I want to give a shot at living my dream and when I am old, I want to have those true stories to share with my grandchildren. Or may be, be able to write a book that shares my story with the entire world.

It all started with a 9 month solo motorcycle ride across India in the early winter of 2008 and I have never looked back since. 

I might fail. I might succeed. I might have fabulous experiences. I might have some terrible ones. I guess I would never know till I tried. Just so you know, I have faced more problems than before my 2008 days, but I have never had more fun or joy. In short, I am loving it!

What’s your Story?



Do you share my sentiments? Are you one of those who wander with passion? I would love to hear your story. In fact, there are a whole bunch of people out there who wish to hear your story coz such stories inspire us and make us believe that we can truly live our dream. Don’t you agree? What’s even better is that your passionate story could win you a Triumph Street Twin Motorcycle or a fully paid for road trip to an exotic location. I am not joking! Wrangler India is conducting a search for True Wanderers across India. These are people who love to wander with passion and have some passionate story to share. All you have to do is pen down your passionate story as a true wanderer, garner enough support and keep your fingers crossed. And do let me know if you win!