Travel far enough to meet yourself.

So I quit my dayjob and spent one month putting my work together, chilling at home and watching Pakistani shows on the television. Starting January, I embarked on a four week long journey across India.

The travels were intended to help me breathe and revisit some of my favourite places and people in life. The timing also helped me escape the dreary Delhi winters and figure the next steps in life (the next dayjob, work life balance, why am I on this planet, etc). Unthinking much while I was planning the whole trip broadly, I remember freaking out a little just the night before leaving. A month felt like a little long time and travelling alone felt slightly daunting. What were the odds that my new day job would take me outside of Delhi (the city that strangely feels like home now)? What if I just got bored midway? What if all this solo travel got to me?

I realized pretty soon that, even though I was travelling solo, it was hardly so because, at each place that went to, I was meeting and staying at homes of close friends and family. These were people who’ve been close to me at different points in life and this time around, they were sharing with me slices from their lives in their cities. Along with the people, there were also places that I had been to in the past and had always wanted to revisit. Going back and spending time with these people and places reminded me of why I had always loved them so dearly. It was 

Jaipur, Rajasthan

Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra

Hyderabad, Telangana

Badami, Karnataka

Hampi, Karnataka

Chennai, Tamil Nadu