Realising travel dreams
HYDERABAD : Most people dream of quitting their job and travelling the world. You did it. When did the thought of fulltime travel occur?
Love for traveling happened at a young age, thanks to dad. We did at least three trips a year and many weekend getaways around Nagpur, my hometown. In 2008, I did my first solo trip to Pondicherry for two weeks. I fell in love with the feeling of exploring a place alone. In 2009, I was rejected by all IIMs for MBA and had to drop a year. I went visiting North India for 48 days.
Ladakh happened on a rented bike and that trip changed my outlook towards traveling and life. Given that I was still studying and did not have a job, I could do small trips around Nagpur. I came back home and took up a job in IT, saved for three months, and bought a Bullet. In the next two years, I rode across whole of South India. By 2012, I had covered 20 states in India and with better savings, I went to South East Asia and ticked off all countries over the next two years. On my Spain trip in 2015, I knew that I wanted to travel longer. I decided 2018 will my travel year, and began saving for that.
When did you actually start working towards it? By that I mean calculating what it takes, informing your office of quitting, informing family, pooling up money.
In November 2016, I knew I had 25 months to save up and travel. I knew it would come to the money saved and not the number of days. So that meant going on a controlled budget. No big trips, no unnecessary spending till 2018. At my job, I told them in November 2017 that I would quit next month and that was it.
How do you arrive at the figure that you need to travel?
Having been to Europe twice, I had a faint idea that the expenses are around 100 euros/day. So for a 180 day trip, I knew I would need about 18,000 euros (`14 lakh).
Two worst and best things about being a professional traveller?
So one problem is that a lot of time goes into editing pictures, posting on social media and blog. I would rather use that time to see more of the place. Second is homesickness. The good part is that I get to decide what happens everyday. No deadlines make me feel liberated. The other good thing is the stories I collect from my every day experiences. I keep meeting people who inspire me to push harder.
Is it true that Instagrammers and social media influencers can make a lot of money as their stay and food are almost always sponsored? Or is it a myth?
Sponsored is a tricky word in these situations. Sponsored stay and food saves the money that would go on these expenses. But then sponsored comes with barter, so there is no additional earning. The money making bit has to come from other means like the blog, product reviews, content writing, editing, etc. In my case, I can click decent pictures and videos. So after a sponsored stay or meal, I do a review on barter, but charge them for using my pictures or videos for their other marketing purposes. It’s a myth that influencers earn a bomb. Only 2-3 of them get 10,000 USD for a post or a picture.
You got married in 2018. Did travel introduce you to your wife? Did you share our idea of quitting to travel? What was her reaction?
An army kid, my wife Neharika Nath has moved around a lot, but still didn’t like to travel. So when we were dating, I always told her that she had to love traveling if she loved me. To test that out, we took a trip to Europe in 2016 for three weeks. We did a backpack trip with 20 kg bags, no heels, no fancy hotels and a lot of walking. I popped her the question of marriage on the last day of that trip over Eiffel Tower. About quitting her job, she’s been a content writer/editor with an online portal for over eight years.
Do you plan to get back to work sometime or are you exploring a job on the lines of travel writer and photographer?
I was an IT guy for 2.5 years, then moved on to sales for the next three years. I don’t think I can do a full time job, because the moment it starts feeling like it’s a job, it loses its charm. Also, I really want to stay with my family now in Nagpur. So probably I will figure out something from there.
How many years did it take for you to get those many subscribers to your website/blog?
I used to write crazy long descriptions in my FB posts. People would keep telling me that it’s such a waste, and that I should own a blog and write there instead. In 2014, while I was in Italy, Neharika bought a domain, got the site up and running and gave me. That’s how eattripclick.com, my blog was born.
Hacks from the expert
Book either six weeks before a trip or two days before.
Keep checking for prices every three hours till you are sure of getting the lowest price.
Do everything on your own - flight, hotel, entry tickets, guided tours.
Talk to locals to plan your itinerary
If anyone seems too sweet to be true, they are not! Trust your instincts and never let your guard down.
Tip to save money - Use multicurrency cards while traveling and save on exchange pricing. Pick hotels that are near bus stops or metro to save on taxi. Walk as much as possible, you see a lot more that way.
— kalanidhi @newindianexpress.com @mkalanidhi