My first solo trip

"I'll see mountains this year. I'll go on my first solo trip this year."

I wrote these words on my vision board not just because they were a hope, but because I wanted them to become a memory.

After exploring Delhi NCR for more than a year, I wanted to take my travel journey beyond the city. You know when you write something down and keep asking the universe for it? You don't have to worry about when it will happen, because eventually, it does.

For almost two months, I planned and wondered when I'd finally visit the mountains. It didn't matter whether it was Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, or Jammu, I just wanted to see them. I longed for that experience. Slowly, I started noticing mountains everywhere. Billboards about hill stations, advertisements in movie theatre, and people posting their mountain trips on social media. It felt as if the universe was constantly reminding me of the dream I had written down.

After cancelling one plan after another, I finally decided to give myself a solo trip gift before my birthday. A week before the journey, I booked my bus ticket and accepted it as a challenge: a new adventure. I was scared because I'd never done anything like this before, but instead of thinking about the odds, I started preparing for it.

The very next day, I cancelled the booking. I convinced myself that I shouldn't spend money like this. I already had a lot of expenses that month and needed to save for the future. "I'll do it later," I thought, and returned to my usual routine.

But something inside me refused to let it go. Maybe it was finally time to turn that vision into reality. To face a brand-new challenge. To step out, explore, and collect new stories. So, two days before the trip, I booked the bus again and said to myself, "Let's do this."

I chose Uttarakhand because it was close to Delhi and wouldn't take too long to reach. It was only a three-day trip. I told myself I wouldn't spend much and would only visit a few places. I packed my belongings, took a deep breath, and began my adventure.

The story begins

I don't know what kind of travel you usually do, but my adventures unfold in a very different way.

I've always loved listening to people's stories: their struggles, passions, dreams, and lives and then trying to turn those stories into words and visuals. Nothing else in this world gives me that kind of happiness.

On this journey, I met a few people at the place where I was staying. Call it luck or coincidence, but every one of them was genuinely kind. 

One was a teenager, a national-level shooting athlete and a relative of Manu Bhaker. He told us about his journey in sports, the challenges he had faced, and the goals he wanted to achieve. Another was a secondary school teacher who spent hours talking to me about how mountains are formed, meditation, and many other fascinating things. He was also a talented photographer. Then there was a girl who loved smoking bold in her own way, yet with a genuinely kind heart. She had come on this trip with a few of her friends. Every night, after spending the day exploring the mountains and the city, we'd gather in the common area and talk for hours. We shared stories about our lives, our journeys, our dreams, and the experiences that had shaped us. Those conversations became one of my favorite parts of the journey.

They all came from different parts of the country, yet we connected instantly. We clicked countless pictures together and of course, I was one of the photographers. One of the most unexpected and beautiful moments was a surprise birthday celebration. I wasn't expecting it at all, and it made me incredibly happy. It felt as though the journey itself paused for a moment just to acknowledge me.

It wasn't just the mountains that felt healing, it was listening to people's stories. I know life isn't always like this, and people aren't always this open or kind. But I've started believing one thing: when you're good, you tend to meet good people.

Call it magic or whatever you want, but I feel like I can sense people. Eventually, they open up and start sharing their lives with me. I hope I never lose that part of myself. That experience was unbelievably awesome and gave me a different kind of adventure.

The motto

My only motto in life is simple: Life's short, and I want to experience it all.