Redefining the ways of travellling -10 Indian woman travellers to follow

Travelling is the new cool. India has witnessed a massive boom in people wanting to travel and explore and move on from being a mere tourist. But, the issue of a woman travelling alone is still a concern. The issues starting from not getting permission from families to it is not safe, we have a range of issues which stop women from travelling. Yet, there are a few who have broken the barrier and travelled world and gender hasn’t stopped them from exploring. Here are ladies who have broken the tradition, stepped out of the comfort zone and travelled the world.

1. Shivya Nath – A storyteller, Traveller, a national bestseller author and many more things. In 2011, she quit her 9-5 job and decided to travel the world. Her work at the Singapore tourism board gave her the push to go beyond the cubicle and seek the world. In 2013, she decided to give up everything including home and started a nomad life. Her journey of an aspiring Traveller to inspiring Traveller is truly amazing. She believes in travelling responsibly, contributing to the local society, taking care of the environment as she travels. She believes in blending in with the locals and enjoy the places as local rather than a visitor. Her travel journey is truly an inspiration and you can find more about her travel stories by visiting her blog, the shooting star.
2. Lakshmi Sharath – A travel blogger, digital influencer, media professional and photographer. After spending 15 years behind a desk in various media companies, she decided to take a first-hand experience of seeing the world. She started a blog in 2005, Travel with Lakshmi, to narrate her stories and experiences. The blog started as a passion soon became a profession and she covered over 25 countries, 5 continents. Her blog received recognition and accolades from various places. She is a true inspiration for Traveller hidden in all of us.
3. Parnashree Devi – As she describes, travelling is her high. Parnashree always glued to travelling. As a kid, she was more travel related programs on TV than cartoons. She began her career as Photo Editor travelling the world. But, when she took off to Mukteshwar after seeing a cottage on a hill, travel perspective changed for her and she started a new journey. Eventually, she became assistant director of a travel show for Arunachal Tourism. In 2014, when she had a job offer in one hand and opportunity to cover 5000kms in Nano, covering 5 states and 21 destinations in other, she took the plunge and did the show. Parnashree has shown us that one has to take risks to follow our passion and nothing is more fruitful than following your passion. Follow her stories on her blog “My Travel Diary”.
4. Ami Bhat – While most of the Travellers believe in destinations, she suggests a different mantra. Ami believes that travelling is a process of liberation and one need not travel far off to experience it. She is marketing professional by qualification and Travel Blogger by Passion. She is also called Restless Ball of Energy. She plans her travel around long weekends and documents her travel stories in her blog, “thrilling travel”. She has been published by various platforms like HuffingtonPost India, Lonely Planet India.
5. Ankita Kumar – Ankita Kumar grew up in a small town Rourkela in Odisha and as a teenager was afraid to even leave her house. Everything changed when she moved to Bangalore for her graduation. She got the exposure she wanted and now there’s no turning back. Ankita broke out of her cocoon and has travelled solo across Europe, South East Asia, and even South America. Her colourful blog and crazy ‘monkey’ personality helped her create her own travel blog, Monkey Inc.
6. Renuka Singh – Solo Traveller, Blogger, Writer. Renuka has always had an eye for creative work. Photography being her key interest, she knew that she can make a good picture. She is published Filmfare columnist and also has won Best Letter for her letters in Filmfare. She did go through the phase of job in BPO before realizing her true passion for writing. She started her professional writing career with an online portal and also worked with several magazines. She finally decided to tell her travel stories through her blog – Voyager for Life.
7. Neelima Vallangi – Neelima prefers to take the path less trodden by taking a detour on all the most visited tourist sites in India and choosing treks in some of the country’s most remote parts. Her love affair with travel began in 2008 when she visited Ladakh. Today, she’s quit her job as a Software Engineer to travel full time. She’s cycled in the Western Ghats, hiked in Kashmir and visited a number of beautiful places in the country. She hopes she’ll discover more of our beautiful country before she’s 30. You can follow her incredible stories on her website “The Wandering Soul’s Wander Tales”.
8. Rutavi Mehta – After 7 long years of working in the hospitality industry, Rutavi Mehta decided to take a break and went backpacking around Europe. That’s when she was bitten by the travel bug and it has changed her life. She started her own travel blog “Photo Katha”, where she puts up her best photographs and stories of her travels. She loves adventure and recently trekked up to Everest Base Camp and gone on a ‘Rickshaw Run’, where she raced an auto rickshaw from Jaisalmer to Shillong. She also believes in making a change, which is why she volunteers to teach children for about 2 months in a year in Ladakh.
9. Charukesi Ramadurai – Charukesi is a Mumbai-based freelance writer by profession and a brilliant one at that! Her articles have appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times, BBC Travel, the Economist, CNN Travel, the Hindu, National Geographic Traveller, Forbes and so many other big names in journalism. She began travelling when she was 26 years old and has travelled to over 46 countries so far (she aims to make it 50 at age 50). She has also co-authored a book on freelance journalism called “Everything you wanted to know about Freelance Journalism (But didn’t know whom to ask)”. You can check out her blog “Itchy Feet” and watch her Ted Talk for some inspiration.
10. Trishita Bhattacharya – A woman of the modern age, Trisha Bhattacharya has been inspiring people through her colourful Instagram posts. Based out of Mumbai, this 21-year old is doing her post-graduation in Media and Advertising, while travelling on the side. She sometimes travels with her friends and family, but she does plenty of solo trips too. She also happens to be the brand ambassador for GoPro in India. Her Instagram page “Overrated Outcast” has some incredible pictures of her travels in Indonesia, Jaipur, Goa, Mumbai and much more.

10 people above have broken all the social conventions and stereotypes around women travelling around the globe. They are an inspiration to most of us to pursue our passion and not give up on things easily. Now, travelling doesn’t cost a hole in your pocket especially when you are accommodation cost can be managed by booking hotels on a slot basis. Use bookbyslot.com to book the rooms as per your convenience and pay only for the slots used. Go travel the world!!