Trial separation
Are you really leaving?
Are you really leaving? she asked with a worried face emoji. I stared at the message, unsure how to respond, for I didn’t know the answer either.
When we broke up with Goa in 2023 and moved to a little mountain village in Himachal Pradesh, I thought, this is it. We rented an unfurnished space and invested a ton of time, money and energy to make it livable. I imagined building my slowest life here, and for a while I did. I loved watching the seasons change, frequenting my favorite cafe and dhaba, game nights with friends, long walks to villages further away, and chulha-side conversations with neighbors. We almost sunk all our savings into a piece of land to build something of our own.
However, when I returned “home” after three months in Peru last year, something within me shifted. I had spent time with Indigenous Quechua women, hiked in the remote reaches of the Andes, met the last generation of people living on floating islands on Lake Titicaca, and tasted a slice of the slow life in Cusco. I felt changed in wild and wonderful ways.
But upon reaching home, I felt like I was straddling two parallel realities. One filled with the lure of the new. One filled with the all-too-familiar. Sameness clung to me like an emotion.
For the next few months, I beat myself over my inability to commit, tether myself to one place and find joy within rather than seeking it outside. But I couldn’t hide from that thing I knew: there were still roads left in my shoes.
When multiple travel assignments landed on my plate, my partner and I decided to try out a trial separation - from Himachal, not from each other ;-) We’d spend three months slow travelling through East Africa, and see if Himachal beckoned us back. A month in, we knew.
Sitting by the window of a rooftop cafe in Kigali, sipping locally-grown white tea as I watched the rain lash the world outside, I realized that I didn’t need to beat myself over my inability to stay. This is indeed my era of slowing down, but maybe not forever yet. We spent three years in Goa and two in Himachal. It wasn’t that we’d fallen out of love with either, but just felt ready for a new chapter. And as much as I loved my time in East Africa, I still long to stay somewhere not for a month or two but for a year or three.
Like that time before, I no longer have an address. Like that time before, most of my belongings fit into two bags again. But I’m done with the labels too. I’m just slow travelling - through the world and through life - for as long as it will let me.
Conscious recommendations
Meaningful travel ideas, eco-friendly finds and worthwhile opportunities, as well as articles, books and films that’ve inspired me.
Travel:
While on my way out of East Africa, my travel plans got hit by the unexpected closure of the Qatar airspace. After 72 stressful hours, I finally made it to Bali - for a family trip, work assignment and a month of slow travel.
I’m writing to you from a little pocket of Bali that, when contrasted with the touristy areas of the island, is a reminder of how places change when culturally corroded by tourism. I’m not sure how long this remote corner will retain its warmth, authenticity, traffic-free roads and rice paddies - but I hope to document the feeling of slow island life here (no geotagging of course) before it’s lost forever.
Kenya
There’s so much more to Kenya beyond safaris. Here are three experiences not to be missed:
Nai Nami: Before we arrived in Nairobi, we received advice ranging from don’t walk anywhere at night to don’t venture too far even during the day. We stayed in one of the safer neighborhoods, but had to head out to one of the least safe ones to do a walking tour with Nai Nami - a social enterprise started by former street kids who have literally turned their lives around through tourism. We learnt about the awe-inspiring journey of our guide who grew up on the streets, was given drugs by his own mother to make life palatable, and engaged in petty street crime to make ends meet. After a series of losses, Nai Nami gave him the opportunity to go through a long and challenging rehab, learn English, and became a tour guide. Long story short, if you ever find yourself in Nairobi, don’t leave without doing a walking tour with them.
Travel4Purpose: I was so glad to connect with Sham, the founder of Travel4Purpose Kenya, for her journey reminded me so much of my own. If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, you might know that I once co-founded an impact-driven travel company that aimed to connect conscious travellers with conscious accommodations and experiences across India! Travel4Purpose does exactly that across Kenya, and thanks to them, we spent a heartwarming day in a small coastal village with the Giriama community - cooking traditional (and accidentally-vegan) dishes like githeri (kidney beans and cabbage stew) and their version of a chapatti, trying our hand at building grass-knotted roofs, canoeing on the stunning Midas Creek, and learning about community-driven mangrove restoration efforts.
Kuruwitu: While asking around for good snorkeling spots on the Kenyan coast, someone recommended Kuruwitu, not far from Watamu. When we arrived there, I was surprised to learn that this was no ordinary snorkeling area. It was a decades-long effort to restore a heavily degraded marine ecosystem. When the local fishermen realized that due to overfishing (for food and livelihoods), their local fishery had become completely devoid of fish, they created a 4 kilometer no-take zone - a community-led Marine Protected Area (MPA), perhaps the first of its kind in Kenya. When fish began to rebound, they opened up the area for snorkeling, creating an alternate income source through tourism. With support from Kenya Wildlife Service, they are also undertaking coral restoration work. Underwater, I was thrilled to see a stunning variety of coral and fish, and felt so grateful that the community has committed to protect this wilderness for future generations!
Japan
I wrote an immersive Japan itinerary for first time visitors, that has quickly become one of the most read posts on my blog! It has everything you need for your first trip to this unique country - meaningful travel experiences, local traditions, eco-friendly and heritage accommodations, time in wild and beautiful natural landscapes, and practical tips on the Japan visa, staying connected and getting around.
Books:
Desert Flower: The incredible memoir of Waris Dirie, who grew up in a nomadic desert tribe in Somalia, and literally molded her destiny to become an international supermodel (and then an activist against female genital mutilation, that is sadly still a reality in many parts of the world). I don’t believe in hoarding books, but Desert Flower is one I always want to keep.
Leo The African: My second book by Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, and I remain a fan. Written as a memoir of the Granada-born, Fez-raised Hassan ibn Al-Wassan aka Leo The African, Maalouf documents the tumultuous 15th and 16th centuries in North Africa and the Middle East. It transported me to a time when slavery was acceptable, women had almost no rights, and the lure of power (and gold) turned men into brutal beings. Things have changed in some ways over the centuries, but we have a lot more to learn from history.
Check out:
Rakhi is around the corner, and this is my annual urging to ditch those single-use plastic, non-biodegradable Rakhis for these stunning, characterful, cotton crochet rakhis handcrafted by Himalayan Blooms, a women-led social enterprise in rural Uttarakhand. I had the opportunity to hang out with them a few years ago, and loved learning that they not only make these rakhis, but have also been upskilling to manage all the tech - from accounting to social media to customer service. They ship within India and internationally, and without plastic packaging on request.
We (finally) started documenting our course community’s monthly wins at The Shooting Star Academy - and I feel so DAMN proud. In June alone, course members landed international collabs in Hong Kong and Taiwan, scored funding from the Cypress Tourism Board, got published in the widely read Air India inflight magazine, landed a travel collab in El Salvador, started their travel UGC journey with a responsible travel company in Goa… and more!
My stories elsewhere
Stories I’ve written recently, as well as social media posts I’d love for you to check out.
Lonely Planet:
How to choose a sustainable volunteering project: It can help you find your passion and purpose, and change your destiny – while also making real change for initiatives you work with.
Blog:
My Unexpected Journey With Making Community Tourism and Climate Action Films: There have been tears, laughter and joy during the screenings.
Instagram:
I saved all my single-use plastic waste for 3 months… here’s why
Why COP30 is one of the most important events of out lifetime
The world’s first packaging-free supermarket! (it hit a million views!)
Stay in touch
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Or hit reply to this email, and share your thoughts!
As someone who had stayed in Goa for a year, I think that place has changed me enormously!! <3 A kind of soul home people call! From my days there, I always believe, “you don't choose some places, places choose you!” 💛
Your travel volunteer feature is one of my bookmarked pages, haha! A lot more volunteering opportunities to experience, and thanks a ton! 🌍
There is so much honesty in every piece of your writing :) It moved some thoughts in me and settled a few :)