Bhutan solo trip

 Just back after a refreshing, rejuvenating weeklong trip to Bhutan. The highpoint of the trip was that I was travelling alone for the first time, without friends, partner, relatives or anyone I am close to. Having toured alone to many places for official needs where I have always found time to explore the native life, this experience had been tremendously unlike them as I ventured out with strangers!! a bunch of 20 women of varying age groups, whom I had never seen or known before; who would never have crossed my path hadn’t I decided to take this up.

A solo travel had been in my mind for a long time, to be precise, sometime after I started taking up small extended week end trips with college buddies, when I shifted to Bangalore. Finally, when I zeroed in the place that I had to visit, I was a bit apprehensive about travelling alone. To be honest, safety was not my concern at all, as I was quite confident that I could keep myself well and sound, but wasn’t sure whether I could cope up with my own company for a week-long time.

With a deep sigh I realised that I’m not the genre who can be alone on one’s own and enjoy solitude. I always have a craving to be around people, surrounded by people, be in an environment which is full of people. No matter where I was or what I was doing I had the constant need to be connected or talk to someone all the time. Also I needed someone to shoulder the burden of booking my flights, stay, and the local commute. In short I wanted someone who would take up all these responsibilities at a reasonable cost and set an itinerary for me!! That’s it. This was what I needed at that point of time. And then I found a travelling group on a news clip, and that was the decision that changed the way I looked at travelling.

The knowledge of having a very supportive family; a partner who would manage my part of the day- today house hold chores in addition to his own, I was literally at ease. But I was amused to see the way in which the not-so-close acquaintances of mine reacted. ‘’How did your parents agree to this?’’ How can they let you go alone? Are they not concerned about your safety? ‘What will your husband and child do?’, ‘What will they eat?’, ‘How will they manage?’ OMG!! these were some of the very innocent queries hurled at me when I announced my plan. Even with the kind of nature that I possess, the level of impatience that I generally have, I very politely had to make them realise that they were not talking to a teen, but to a 30+ year old whose family is not blatantly dependent on her. I was just wondering whether any man would have faced such situations when they planned an outing with their friends!!

Anyways that is how this society is and I’m just proud that like me those women who I shared my travel experiences with, have broken the conventional shackles and packed their back packs off their mundane daily routine and I should say that we had a wonderful time all those 7 beautiful days and nights!!

It was an amazing chance to be the architect of our own adventures, to see the world on our terms, to get to know ourselves, it was exhaustive, exhilarating, bemusing, all at the same time.

This is no travelogue and I’m no expert, so not much about Bhutan, only that it’s a gorgeous, serene, picturesque country with calm and peace loving people, great food, culture and it is a must-visit.

My intention was just to share my experiences of planning this trip, moving out of my comfort zone and finally meeting some amazing people and I bet they are going to be my dearies all the way.

Every travel is a unique experience, it always changes something in you; the way you look at yourself and the world, and I assure you that you come back as a new person and almost always an improved version.