About our travel style

I travel part time whenever I take a break from work. We have captured details about our travel style so that you can choose to focus on aspects that work for you

Duration: Each trip is usually for about 10-15 days as that is the maximum break I get at once from work. The only time I have travelled for months is during a college exchange program where I travelled for 2.5 months in Europe, mostly backpacking and covering 20+ countries

Budget: My style is mid-range, neither budget backpacking, nor luxury travel. We end up staying in 3-star hotels with reasonable comfort and amenities like breakfast, private bathroom, offering free cancellation, no prepayment. We have stayed at 5-star properties where loyalty points redemption options work

Mode: We prefer DIY given it is more flexible and usually cost effective. I really enjoy the planning part- it helps me choose the locations that suit us. Although driving and swimming are survival skills, I have minimal expertise here and end up choosing taxis/ driver hires/ day tours where public transport is not very effective. We have also gone with package tours occasionally where the only realistic alternate was self-drive

I have done solo trips to Greece, Turkey, Denmark, France, and few more European countries. These days, I travel with my parents (which is common in India), minimizing too much walking and taking cabs/ public transport where it is not too prohibitively expensive. We come from India, so most countries are expensive for us

We are also open to a bit of last minute planning for travel within the city. Our experience is you get the best deal on the road and also get an opportunity to interact with true locals. This means we always have connectivity on the road to search our way, communicate, translate

Places: We like more of landscapes, wildlife, ancient architecture, and less of cities, restaurants

Food: You will not find much recommendations on food and eating out since we are vegetarians, teetotalers, carrying our own food or shopping at supermarkets usually. You can read more on what we end up doing to get vegetarian food

Wildlife: We make it a point to see local wildlife around popular places, even if it is a bit of detour. You can find some of our sightings here

Photos: All of them are unfiltered to give you a realistic sense of what to expect

Starting point: You will find an Asian, rather an Indian lens to all options I choose like credit cards, insurance etc. While this might not relate to some, it will still be relevant to travelers in India

I intend this blog to be of help to those who want to travel to unique hidden gems at reasonable budget. Monetization is not the primary objective. You will see less of “10 best hotels to stay” as it is not possible to genuinely try all the places at the same time and give a personal recommendation

To set expectations, this blog is

• An aid to get a sense of what could be places to visit
• Our experience of places we saw, not a comprehensive destination guide
• More facts, less stories of travel. I might end up adding travel stories at a later stage