Instead of looking inward, I felt like running away from the questions brewing in my mind. The post Questions I Don’t Want to Ask Myself at 37. appeared first on The Shooting Star ..read more

Think meaningful experiences, local traditions, heritage accommodations, and time in wild landscapes. The post 10 Days in Japan: An Immersive Japan Itinerary for First Time Visitors. appeared first on The Shooting Star ..read more

I've been in a weird state of flux the last few months. The post Highlights of 2024, a Dilemma, and a Blogging Resolution. appeared first on The Shooting Star ..read more

The glamorous world of travel influencers is often filled with immense pressure to 'fake it till you make it.' The post The Truth About Being a “Travel Influencer” in 2024. appeared first on The Shooting Star ..read more

I lived in Somerville, studied in Cambridge, and explored a fair bit of Boston. The post A Boston and Cambridge Travel Guide for First Timers. appeared first on The Shooting Star ..read more

I was 17 when I first left home to study abroad. I had randomly filled out college applications, with no clue of what I really wanted to do. All I hoped was to go somewhere far away. When I got accepted into Singapore Management University, I was over the moon. I would live on my own for the first time ever, and I couldn’t wait. But as time came to pack up my life in Dehradun and move far out of my comfort zone, I was terrified. In the days leading up to my departure, the butterflies of nervousness fluttered so hard in my tummy that I fell ill and had to delay my flight. Over the last few days ..read more

I had pretty low expectations when I first travelled to Taiwan a few years ago. But I was surprised to find myself constantly surrounded by magnificent mountains, forests and beaches. Over a month in the country, my partner and I lived on a family-run tea estate in the mountains of Fengchihu, cycled down the breathtaking Taroko Gorge, spotted fireflies by night and a sea of clouds on an early morning, learnt about local traditions from an Indigenous Truku family, cycled along the mist-engulfed East Rift Valley, and took the slow train or high speed rail everywhere! Also read: Not Your Typical ..read more

On my first trip to Goa as an adult, my partner and I stayed at an “offbeat” beach that had already been invaded by overtourism. That experience, filled with characterless beach shacks, multicuisine food and hordes of tourists, turned me off Goa. Much later, I returned to experience slow travel for the first time. I’m grateful that the universe conspired to have us stay at Cancio’s House, a 500-year-old traditional Goan homestay in Aldona, with its own well for drinking water, jackfruit trees for shade, and a courtyard around which three generations of the Amaral family have grown up. It was h ..read more

Ecstatic dance? Me? No way. Over the cumulative time I’ve spent in Goa, Guatemala and other ‘hippie’ spots, the idea of trying out ecstatic dance has never crossed my mind. I have two left feet, and tend to tread lightly around the edges of alternative therapies. But while passing through Goa and catching up with a friend a couple of weeks ago, that resistance unexpectedly gave way to curiosity. The next thing I knew, I was on an outdoor dance floor, under a canopy of trees and some faintly shining stars. There was no alcohol, nothing to smoke. Just music and an eclectic mix of people, moving ..read more

The world of travel storytelling seems to be going through a weird flux. On the one hand, my explore tab on Instagram is full of wannabe-viral videos on how creators are getting paid to travel. But on the other, I’m constantly meeting or interacting with travel ‘influencers’ with thousands and sometimes millions of followers, who still work on barter collaborations – getting hosted but not paid to travel. I recently discussed this with a travel blogger friend, and we both felt sorry that good creators with powerful storytelling prowess are being taken for a ride. So I decided to write this pos ..read more