Turning 30: Globe Trotter is the new you

 Some of the blogs here, I left them incomplete because it was unfair to complete them as a person who had just turned 30. Giving advice is easy and free and I have always hated receiving it especially from someone who hasn't done what I want to.

So by the time I turned 30, I had been married, had a child and had a very ugly divorce. so, I was all clear to live my life whatever the hell way I wanted to and the most important thing on my list was to travel with my son and go everywhere.

I remember making a post on Facebook when my son was 6 month old and we were traveling to Oman. In the said post I mentioned "A lifetime of travel begins" and I got so much hate and laughter for it, I deleted the post. People said things like "are you hallucinating?", "did you win a lottery in your alimony?" and I realized that all the negative comments were from people who never left their city. How little are the minds of people who didn't travel. This made me more determined than ever to travel. 

I will make a separate post on how to make it happen for yourself. I have been asked that many a times and I have assisted many people achieve their dream of traveling and moving to different parts of the country/ world. I couldn't be more humbled by how many people are courageous enough to change the lives they do not like.

So, What did I do? Where did I go? Where did I live? Here's a quick memoir of it all.

Moved to Bangalore with my cutie patootie in 2014. Needed to figure out how am I going to be a single parent, how am I going make the money while taking care of him and how am I going to just do life! I moved there with 7000 INR in my bank account. For those curious, I have not received any child support or alimony EVER. I am who I am because I worked my ass off and he never could have paid enough for the peace and happiness we have in our lives. 

A year later, in 2015, went for work to Italy. Extended the trip to backpack and travel to 7 countries. How did I decide? Of all the money I was going to make off of the job, I left 50% in my son's account and the other 50% used up to travel as much as I could. How long? A while month. 

In 2016 moved to China for good. Why China? The main reason being, I couldn't be reached without my permission. After moving I realized how beautiful it was here and how kind were the people. It was a great place to raise my son. It meant taking some loans and convincing my family that we will stay safe. To this day, I thank Jayesh Pandya for nudging so hard when I was hesitant. I wouldn't have moved here this easily if he wasn't so persistent. 

2017 we traveled a lot around China and India. It was also the year I got my endometriosis surgery. A tough year in many ways. However, we visited India thrice and it is always fun to have a trip there. We also took a trip to Thailand with my sister and parents. One of the most memorable trips. Besides, we travelled twice this year with our entire family including my sister who lived in Oman and rarely got to travel with us.

2018 was when we visited Disneyland for the first time. What a fantastic trip to Hongkong and Macau. For his 7th birthday, we went to Indonesia with my parents and it was one fantastic trip. We had such a great time exploring not just a different country but the child that lives within my parents. They are super fun to travel with.

2019 we took a road trip across China, I took a trip to Phuket by myself, we went to visit my sister in Muscat, moved to Romania and took a road trip to explore the magic of Christmas in northern Romania. What an exciting year it was. Full of excitement to experiences with the two people I care about the most. 

2020 was a bit challenging with Covid. We couldn't go home and couldn't travel much. But, solution oriented thinking and a little creativity is all you need to get out of a pickle. So I rented a car, loaded it with camping gear and took off on an expedition across Romania. Everyone thought I was crazy but it is the most memorable trip for my son, me and my crazy little friend. We traveled to literally every single place in Romania, crossed over to Moldova and Ukraine. From mountains and wild bear to beaches, mud volcanoes and great rivers merging, we experienced the country to make some core memories.

2021 we practically lived in Belis at my friend's pensuinea, my favorite place on this planet so far. We went to India, my parents moved into my new place and we had a fantastic start of the year. However, we did have a bad racist experience with Wizz air. They didn't let us board our flights to Cyprus during the summer ruining out entire trip plan. However, we are not quitter so we flew to Bucharest, rented a car and drove to Bulgaria :)) Again, one of the best experiences of our lives. We caught up with some of our Indian friends and hung out by the Romanian sea-side before returning back. 

2022, my son travelled alone for the first time. He didn't want to go with me to Hawaii - unimaginable but true. He chose India over Hawaii! I am still shocked. It was a fantastic trip for us both. I backpacked for 7 weeks across USA starting from Hawaii, to LA, Vegas, SF, Chicago and Michigan. I had the most fantastic trip by my self, I slept in hostels, didn't rent a car, lived like a hobo on certain days, dived with the sharks, watched dolphins from ashore, adored the basking turtles, slept by the volcanoes as they erupted - with no reservations whatsoever. While my son explored India with our family and discovered the joys of being spoilt especially when mom wasn't around. Besides Our trip to Italy and Hungary, we had a great summer.

2023 we went to Switzerland for Julia's graduation, traveled to Azores for whale watching, went to Paris, attended weddings of our 3 close friends and did some small trips around Romania before saying our goodbyes. Next thing I knew, we landed in Armenia and it is one of the fewer places that we have lived in which felt so authentic and resilient. We traveled the length and breath of the country in the first 6 months. My parents loved it just as much during their visit. It ended with a trip to UAE with my sister and nephew

2024 started on the plane back from UAE and we celebrated New Year's mid air - what an experience having the entire aircraft and the crew to ourselves. We then traveled to Jerrmuk in Armenia to see the best and the biggest snow we have ever experienced. For February, we decided to go to Turkiye with Julia. That is when the horrible news of attacks near Yerevan and terrorist threats began. I sent my son back to India from Turkiye. I went back to Armenia to sort out my paper work and finish the syllabus for my students before departing. We didn't travel much after that. We stayed home, traveled in India a bit and I went to decision mode of what to do next. I had offers from Germany, Vietnam and USA - but our hearts were convinced about China. So, in September, as I turned 40, we moved here to Shenzhen. 

Last 10 years have been quite an adventure. The one we would always cherish. We hope to continue and do more of it all in the next decade :) I hope you do too!