Solo – YOLO.... the new Trend!

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66% travellers can become Social Media Inflencers!!

You live only once, then why not try this aspect of discovering the world just with our own company. Another experience when you soak in completely where you are, be it nature or a historical place. This is a process, when you start feeling part of that BEING, part of the existence, there and then. That’s how you absorb and sink in coherence with the energies around!! The process is natural and quite addictive.

Earlier this month in Ahmedabad, a Solo traveller meet was organised, that too women; all age groups and all backgrounds sharing their experiences with a bunch of women who too wish to opt for this mode but hesitant cause of some fears attached with women going out alone.

Six females, ranging from the twenties to forty plus years shared their experiences as to where all have they been, their stories and challenges associated with a woman travelling alone.

Ritu Kulveen: a Blogger and influencer, told her story about her first international trip that too Thailand, she opted. Though being looked upon as a bizarre step, she feels she is a trendsetter by breaking the stereotype thought process in the society. Breaking the glass ceiling and reaching out to what is meant to be...

In terms of adventure, alone she has done a Jeep Safari, all by herself in Jaisalmer; Underwater sea walk at Coral Islands in Pattaya, Hang Gliding at Interlaken in Switzerland where you just feel like a part of this Universe, float in the atmosphere and exhilarate, the breeze supports you while you fly like an actual bird with its wings spread getting a bird’s eye view of mountains, lakes and human existence!!

Spending time with yourself, understanding, observing opens new doors and new neurotransmitters is what I believe, that’s how famous poets have emerged by appreciating the nature, the way it is, everything placed in its perfection at the right place.. by observing a small insect in Solitude, I wrote “Khud ko rang lo Rab ke rang me, yehi Prakruti ki hai paribhasha, phir kya asha kya nirasha..”

Pulling a train chain when she missed her station in 2014 at Sai Praksh Niyalam, handling the complexities of a situation with pure confidence and clarity. Being strong, confident and clear is one quality which you clearly exuberate when on move. Apart from this, it is very essential to have knowledge about Geography and climatic conditions so that we have the right gears when on move!!

Indian travel is very different from International. In India, in case of budget travel, we have to be careful of the places we are staying in hence it is always advisable to choose places which have good ratings and reviews or those run under a chain of hotels. Three-star above hotels have their norms in place and take proper care of women as their guests. They rather appoint their female force to be extra caring and make their guests feel at home. Madurai I had an excellent experience where at Poppy,s hotel Vimaladevi guided me well about the local places, culture and stories associated with Meenakshi temple.

Leepi Agrawal

Leepi Agrawal; has just entered the world of Solo exploration and has been part of travellers community which offered her a mission called Mighty Pen where she has travelled 5 different places for 5 different days. She has covered Pune, Lavasa, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgini, Mumbai, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Kerala, Mysore, Hyderabad, Agra, Mathura including one international trip to Thailand and still counting more.

Leepi doesn’t believe in the power of a lens and is quite comfortable in carrying the age-old lost trend of pen and paper and make her trips as beautiful as it is by sketching for what she has seen or by writing about it, this is her way of freezing the moment. This year she has witnessed the spectacle of Nilkarinji bloom in Munnar Kerala.

Bhumika Bhavsar

Bhumika Bhavsar a renowned photographer shared that it is very essential for her to be in a place alone in order to capture good frames with an alluring composition. She narrated that how in Varanasi it took her two days to wait for a saint who was in a deep state of meditation and penance, to take his permission to capture a frame, as it was not allowed to take any picture while the ‘babas’ are meditating and that too without their permission.

Isha Popat and RJ Aarti too shared their own experiences. Aarti shared her experience of not going to a foreign land with preparation and staying in a hostel sharing room with men, which was a pretty safe experience. Ankita Singh who loves adventure mentioned that we must use registered users as safety is more important. Besides while travelling solo, one has to be careful on budget hence preplanning is absolutely essential, with proper mobile connectivity when overseas. She has taken the extreme plunge of doing skydiving alone.

In a recent survey conducted across countries by a famous travel portal Booking.com, they mention in their research report, “From looking to favourite social media influencers for genuine travel inspiration to considering making a career out of travel itself and sometimes falling to the pressures of having an online presence, the research reveals how social media will continue to change the way we travel in 2019," the company said in a statement.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” Saint Augustine