Itchy

So I’ve been itching to travel quite a lot lately. Last month, I did the long- weekend trip to Jaipur, Rajasthan with a female colleague of mine and you would think that I wouldn’t be so restless after only 3 weeks after the trip – but here I find myself dreaming of backpacking my way to unknown destinations again.

This time, I am thinking of venturing out solo. Of course, I will have to tell my family about it before I leave and they will initially not be very welcoming to the idea – it was hard enough convincing them to let me have an independent apartment in a scary city like Delhi. I don’t worry about the convincing part too much because as long as I am able to effectively explain to them my reasons of wanting to travel solo and am able to convince them that I am confident and prepared enough to be able to take this venture on my own- they will be fine (albeit with nervous and trepidation). BUT they will be fine.

So I researched online for previous experiences of women who have backpacked in India before and read about their experiences and advice. I found tons of women travellers(yay !) who travel solo all over the world and especially through India which to-be-honest does NOT give much credibility and sense of security to a single woman unaccompanied by a male in most situations (more on this issue in another post). One such website where I found well archived and extensive information is the Journeywoman . However, most of the travelogues in the website are for the international woman traveler and focuses on the issues of the culture nuances of India, the clothes to wear, the appropriate ways to interact with the locals etc.

But what about an Indian woman backpacker, I then asked Google. And here is what Google told me- There are a few Indian women who take the road less travelled (pun intended) and do the unimaginable- Travel alone. I found a nice article on the stories of a few Indian women who have done it here. The report encouraged me – and I scrolled through the comments section and guess what? It was also nice to see some men cheer the ladies on and there were also a few chauvinist dickheads also contributed their stupidity to the general ignorance of ‘superior’ men folk . I also found out about Woman on Wanderlust (WOW) founded by Sumitra Senapaty which organizes travel trips exclusively for women. They have some really nice national and international trips coming up in 2011 and the trips to Bhutan and Ladakh instantly made my eyes shine with excitement. Yet, these trips are comparatively a tad bit pricey as most women who travel with WOW look for comparative comfort when traveling. What I am looking for mainly a backpacking experience in a
shoe-string budget . Wish me luck!!




"I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong... but to feel strong." -Christopher McCandless