v2click - Solo Vibrant Voyages

How a visit to Zion National Park changed my perception about nature

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 09:06:00 +0000

Have you ever been so certain about something only to find out that you were totally wrong? Well that happened to me last November and made me rethink about a lot of things! I am a nature buff. And whenever I have to close my eyes and describe nature or visualize it, the things that come to my are forests, greenery, mountains, and water bodies. The emphasis here is greenery. Last November, I got a chance once again to attend the Google Connect Live 2019 conference. You can click this link to learn more about the event. I had extend my stay as I wanted to visit a few more places on the west coast during this trip. After the event, my first stop was Las Vegas! I visited Vegas for 4 days and out of those, I spent 2 days with my friend's family. I really did not have a concrete plan as to what to do but I was looking to do some hikes! lol (I know so funny... Vegas and hikes!) I was looking on the web for a few day trips and my friend highly recommended a visit to the Zion National Park. But I was not one bit enthused because Zion NP did not fit my ~~limited~~ visual version of a National Park. Red rocks and barren land... What could possibly be beautiful?! But after listening to his description and that he wouldn't mind visiting the park over and over, I decided I must visit. So I booked a day trip on TripAdvisor for the following day. This was basically a round-trip transportation via luxury coach! There were 9 people and 4 of us were being dropped at Zion and the rest were heading to the Bryce Canyon National Park.

The second I stepped out to the parking lot and looked around, my jaws just dropped, eyes popped out, and I was just dumbfounded by my surroundings. I wanted to kneel down ask God for forgiveness because I was so wrong about Nature. Here I stood like a minuscule fool amidst the magnificent red rocks and chocolate brown cliffs trying to take in as much of the beauty I could. With a big grin on my face I headed to the visitor's center. Here I boarded the free Zion Canyon Shuttle which connects the Zion Canyon Visitor Center to 9 stops at various locations on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. I was very happy to see that these buses were wheelchair accessible, had lot of room for backpacks, climbing gear, and bicycles. No pet, but service animals were allowed on the bus! 😀 During my visit the Weeping Rock Trail, Hidden Canyon Trail, and Observation Point Trail were closed due to rockfall. Since I had only 6 hrs at the park, I had to choose the remaining spots carefully! My friend had highly recommended Angel's Landing and Emerald Pool trails and the Narrows. I thought I would have time for just that (was being over confident here!). So I started there.

I got down at stop 6, The Grotto. At this point one can do 3 hikes - Lower Emerald Pool, Upper Emerald Pool and Angel's Landing. After reaching the starting point of the trail I learnt that the Lower Emerald Pool's trail was closed. So I started hiking towards the Upper Emerald Pool. It was an easy hike but with my lack of fitness and improper footwear, I was slow but steady.

The views on the way were so gorgeous and I kept feeling so glad that I did this trip! Haha. However, the view upon reaching the Upper Emerald Pool wasn't all that great. I thought the water would be Emerald green, but there was little water and it was just black. Probably because it was late fall. After clicking a few pictures and drinking some water, I started to descend and hiked towards Angel's Landing. I was really lucky with the weather because it was not scorching sunny, instead pretty cloudy and this made my hike easier! It was a long hike and about to get crazy and a little disappointing. What's the crazy part? The series of never-ending 21 switchbacks!! Pheew. Man... my thighs, knees, ankles, and feet were aching, my heart pumping, and I was gasping for breath as I made my way up to Scout’s Lookout. The disappointing part? The trail further up to Angel's Landing was closed.

Well, I was happy I made it this far up in one piece and thought this was the best place to have lunch and enjoy the views from here. As I was eating my veggie subway sandwich, a curious chipmunk came over. I stretched out my hand with some food. This was a brave little one! It came over and took the food from my hand. Later another one came along! I must say it was one of my best lunches so far! What breathtaking views one could get from here. There was some unexplainable beauty in those red rocks standing tall and with so many trees around, it was hard to believe this was a desert! Can you believe that all these canyons have been formed over 250 millions of years through erosion, river carving, tectonic uplifts and more?! And its still being formed thanks to the Virgin river that continues to carve it's way through the canyons.

After lunch I looked at my watch and realized that I had 2.5 hrs more at the park before I had to head back to the parking lot where we would be picked up. One important thing to keep in mind is that there is a time difference of 1 hr between Las Vegas and Zion! My phone's time automatically updated, but my watch couldn't sync - no network! So I had to be super careful while seeing my watch and knowing how much time i had and then my phone! Oh I forgot to mention another major goof up of mine! I left my wallet back at my friend's house!!! I had just $2 with me the entire time! Beat that!

Typical first time visitors (like me), come to the park for two things - Angel's Landing and The Narrows. I knew very well I can't do the Narrows because I dint carry my hiking boots with me during this US trip and I did not have the right clothes and gears. Further more I dint have money to rent them too! What a bummer! But I thought I have come this far, let me at least go and see where the Narrows are. So I took the shuttle to the last point, stop 9 - Temple of Sinawava.

The drive to this place itself was so picture perfect! This is the place where the canyon walls close in as you begin your hike towards the Narrows. It was so peaceful, very few people around and it was quiet, I could hear the river streaming by, birds chirping and even saw some wild life - deer and its fawn. I could hike only so much as the trail ended and the river filled it from side to side. I enjoyed the Riverside walk trail.

It's about a 15 minute drive back to the first point and the whole journey was so scenic. I was trying to slow down time as I looked out of the window and saw the dramatic clouds drooping over red rocks making it a grand final spectral for the tourists, clicking countless pictures at every bend and curve along the way. My God... how wrong I have been about the beauty of nature! My takeaways from this day trip was a new found respect for nature and be more open minded about exploring places. I really want to come back and visit this place once again, this time perhaps stay a couple of days and explore the park completely and yes, definitely do the Narrows!

What’s the Most Rewarding Part of Solo Travel?

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 13:43:00 +0000

Solo travelling is not for everyone. Some people enjoy going out with a group of close friends and have a time of their life! In fact, I have had some extremely memorable trips with my friends. When I took my first solo trip, I discovered that I enjoy this the most. What's the most rewarding thing about it you may ask?

For me, the list is endless! I absolutely love every bit of the whole process - right from locking down a place, booking your to and fro flight tickets, spending sleepless nights researching about internal travel, saving places to Google Maps, using Google Translate to hear pronunciation of places, booking Airbnb stays or hostels, to the that nail-biting moment of waiting for your visa, and finally to that thrilling moment of receiving your passport and seeing a visa stamp on it, and then of course the whole trip itself.

Seeing your travel plans come to life is most rewarding. You feel a great sense of accomplishment and gain a lot of confidence. Little did I know what a positive impact solo travel can have on one's life. You develop important life skills like decision making, problem-solving, communication, critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy, and resilience.You have the luxury of designing your itinerary and seeing it come to life is extremely rewarding. When in a group, it is hard to come to a consensus about things to do, places to visit, restaurants to dine in and so on. When you are travelling alone, you can decide when your day begins, have brunch or ice cream for lunch, make a sandwich for dinner, etc. You can plan the activities that are of most interest to you without having to feel that you are forcing people into activities you like or being forced into activities they like!

Have you travelled solo? What do you like most about solo travelling?

5 Challenges of Solo Travelling

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 20:00:00 +0000

Trælanípan, Faroe Islands - Europe 2018 Solo Trip

As much as we envy our solo travelling friends by scrolling through their social media feeds, here are some untold truths of solo travelling.

Safety: One top concern for any solo traveller is security and it's even more if you are a woman. There's no one to watch over your luggage. This can be quite challenging especially when you want to go to the bathroom and the place is not huge enough to accommodate your luggage. You wont have anyone to depend on. Furthermore, you have to be quick to think on your feet if things go south. During my 2018 Europe solo trip, someone robbed my mobile phone in Paris in an underground metro station. Words cannot express the amount of panic I felt. I just couldn't think straight, I wanted to cry and wanted to share this with some familiar face. With the help of lot of strangers and using two other people's Google Maps, I figured the way to my hostel and got back safely. A popular Girls Travel Group on Facebook and my Google Local Guides friends on Hangout came to my rescue for emotional support! I bought a new phone the next day and went on with my travels.

Loneliness: There are certain moments during your travel that you deeply wish your close friends or family were around so that you could share it with them. Sharing via social media does not have the same effect as sharing it in person. For some people, dining out along can be quite challenging.

Gender disadvantage: There are many cultures in the world that are still patriarchal and simply wont allow women to travel alone. Women have to justify as to why they want to travel solo. Men don't receive the unwarranted attention and advances that women do in various countries which is an unfortunate fact for solo female travellers.

Planning and Researching: Planning your entire trip is the most challenging part of solo travelling. Moreover if you are from one of the countries with a weak passport and require a tourist visa, then securing your tourist visa is a challenge. You are required to produce your detailed itinerary which includes confirmed bookings of every place you are visiting. This is quite scary as you are not sure if your visa will be approved, but at the same time you need to produce confirmed bookings! This doesn't allow flexibility to make other plans.

Getting a photo: It's also hard to get a good photo of yourself when you are travelling solo. Of course you can set up the timer, use a tripod and so on, but it is time consuming and the moment of excitement passes away. So you just end up taking a selfie. Whenever I want a picture of myself clicked along with nature, I always give the person some quick tips on framing in layman terms like "keep me to the side and have more of the waterfalls/mountains", "avoid putting me in the middle", "please do not zoom", "please click in landscape mode", and so on. And these tips have actually helped!

Can you relate to some of these challenges? What challenges have you come across when travelling solo? Share your experience in the comments below.

Quitting Dell to Travel the World

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 20:24:00 +0000

Who knew that exactly one year after my solo trip to Norway, I would be leaving my corporate job to pursue my passion for travelling! This Friday was my last working day at Dell. I just can't believe that (close to) 5 years have flown by! This has been my longest and most amazing stay so far in any company! "OMG!!!". "This is it". "I am so ready for this". These were some of the thoughts that went through my mind when I decided that I wanted to quit and fulfill my dream of travelling and become a travel blogger!

I took my first solo trip to Norway back in June 2017 and I loved the experience so much that I took my second solo trip to New Zealand this year! Two solo trips in, I knew this is what I wanted to do full time! I absolutely loved every bit of the whole process - right from locking down a place, your leaves getting approved, booking your to and fro flight tickets, spending sleepless nights researching about internal travel, saving places to Google Maps, getting frustrated when you visit a transport website that is not in English language, or using Google Translate to hear pronunciation of places, booking Airbnb stays or hostels, to the whole painful process of applying for a visa, that nail-biting moment and praying to the Gods of visa consulate because you have booked your entire itinerary and your heart is in your hand, and finally to that thrilling moment of receiving your passport and seeing a visa stamp on it, and then of course the whole trip itself. I have loved every bit of this process and I want to do this full time. I have now decided to take the plunge.

There aren't enough adjectives to describe the wonderful journey I've had with Dell. I feel so fortunate to have worked with some of the best teams at Dell and I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it - getting the TA team SMaC certified, training them to use social media and the importance of building a personal brand, being a part of the Dell Champions team and promoting employee advocacy, and then moving into a university relations role, giving our interns the best internship experience, I am going to cherish all these memories. Thank you, DELL, for the opportunity of a lifetime.

My last working day at Dell :)

I am super excited about my new gig, because it sets the path for me to reach my ultimate goal of becoming an entrepreneur one day! I look forward to all the creative learning opportunities that lay ahead of me like creating and editing videos, photography, blogging, learning new tools and so on.

Please join me on my adventure, virtually. Like, Follow, Share, Subscribe! :)

Quotes That Inspire Me to Travel

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Mon, 28 May 2018 19:12:00 +0000

Once you get bitten by the travel bug, it is so hard to take your mind off travel, isn't it? There's this constant yearn to travel, see and learn about new places, climb new mountains, paddle in beautiful lakes, hike amidst forests and experience nature in its purest forms. I find myself spending more time on Google Maps, saving new places and creating Lists. So until my next solo trip, I thought I'll put together a few of my favourite quotes along with some of my most favourite images and share it via blog post. I hope these quotes will inspire you the same way it has inspired me to travel and hope you get to take that trip you have been putting off! Feel free to share this post on your own social media accounts by pinning, sharing, and tweeting.

Location: Flam, Norway, 2017

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

― Mark Twain

Location: On the way to Sankri Village, Dehradun, India, 2013

“The road is there, it will always be there. You just have to decide when to take it.”

― Chris Humphrey

Location: On the way to Sankri Village, Dehradun, India, 2013

“Oh, the places you’ll go.”

― Dr. Seuss

Location: A holiday home in Cincinnati, 2015

“Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.”

― Lawrence Durre

Location: On the way to Yosemite National Park, California 2015

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

― Martin Buber

Location: Yosemite National Park, California 2015

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it's lethal”

― Paulo Coelho

Location: Kawarau River, New Zealand 2018

“Fear is only temporary. Regrets last forever.”

― Anonymous

Location: Lake Mapourika, New Zealand, 2018

“Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

― Gustave Flaubert

Location: Aurlandsfjorden, Norway, 2017

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

― Oprah Winfrey

Location: Mackay Falls, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, 2018

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

― Ibn Battuta

Location: Mackay Falls, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, 2018

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give;
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.”

― Hans Christian Andersen

Location: Aurlandsfjorden, Norway, 2017

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”

― Pat Conroy

Location: Leknes, Norway, 2017

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

― Susan Sontag

Location: Pulpit Rock, Norway, 2017

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s OK. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

― Anthony Bourdain
This quote is something that I relate to a lot. Stavanger was my first "proper" beginning of my solo trip after a crazy 28 hour journey. I had travelled from Bangalore > Frankfurt> Munich> Oslo> Stavanger. I had spent the first day just acclimatizing and getting some rest and familiarizing myself in the city. The second day was my Pulpit Rock cruise and hike. It was not a picture perfect weather as it was very cloudy and kept raining. Nevertheless, I did not want to turn back. I had made a new friend on the cruise and once the cruise was done, a bus dropped a few of us who were daring enough to hike in such a weather. Through rain and hardly any sun it was quite a climb! Total time taken to go up and come down was 3.5 hours! I certainly dint get the view I was hoping for, like the ones you see on Google Images - beautiful blue fjord, blue skies, and green mountains! But the hike was totally worth it! It was like an endurance test, physically and mentally.

Location: Haukland Beach, Norway, 2017

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”

― Lawrence Block

Location: Tromsø, Norway, 2017

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that damn mountain.”

― Jack Kerouac
Do you have a favourite travel quote? If yes, what about that quote do you like? I'd love to know. :)

Essential Tips for First-Time International Travellers

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Wed, 02 May 2018 20:02:00 +0000

Congratulations! So you have researched, shortlisted and finally decided upon your travel destination 😍. Is this your first international trip? You must already be counting days unable to sit steady, right? If yes, I can totally feel your excitement. In this post I would like to share some pre-travel tips that will help you get the most of your travel. If you have travelled before, then this post will act as a refresher. Perhaps you can share a few tips too in the comments!

Booking your flight tickets: In all your excitement about travelling, don't jump into booking your flight tickets immediately. To get the best deals possible, do a thorough research first. From personal experience, I have found Make My Trip to be notorious in jacking up the prices. Sometimes, the prices shown are so demotivating that I have felt like giving up the whole idea of travelling to that destination. But don't be disheartened, there is a workaround this!

Clear all your browser cache, cookies, and temp files. Open a new incognito tab and search for the flight tickets in at least three to four different websites. Do the same thing across different browsers and devices! See if you have a friend in a different location and ask them to check the prices as well. If they are getting a better deal, ask them to book and you can pay them later! I would even suggest that you use a location spoofer and try this exercise. This might seem like a circus, but trust me, you will be surprised to see the price differences.
Use Skyscanner: Skyscanner is a free flight search tool will help you find cheap flights and deals with popular airlines.

Sometimes you are just in for luck! Just a simple search on Google for "flight deals", "flight coupons and discounts" might land you a really sweet deal. Won't happen all the time, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?!
When you are flying within the city, it is always best to check that country's local airlines and compare the fares with India's flight booking site. E.g. Make My Trip does not list all local flights and all available flights, they don't give the best deals too. When I was booking my internal travel flights within Norway, I came across more travel time options on the local airlines, Widerøe. I felt the fares were cheaper too even if I booked using my credit card with transaction fees applied.
Personal Tip: Be extra careful when you are using Make My Trip and your travel dates are in the month of June! For my Norway solo trip, I had to book an inter-city flight on June 30th. I clearly remember choosing June 30th. But somehow the date it was booked was July 30th! These were non-refundable tickets and I lost a lot of money. So double and triple check the dates for June and July.

Select your flight seats asap: As soon as you book your flight tickets, your next step is to secure the best possible seats! If you are travelling on business class or first class, please just go away!😑 I am guessing that many of us are from the humble economy class and we can still choose the best available seats. If you are the photo enthusiast like me, don't just select the first available window seat. You need to make sure that the aircraft's wings don't obstruct your unique sky and cloud photos 😄. Therefore, head straight over to SeatGuru.com. This is a website featuring aircraft seat maps and seat reviews of thousands of airlines. All you have to key in are the airline's name and flight number and hit enter. They even have a color-coded system to identify superior and substandard seats. For e.g avoid sitting at the emergency exits. The arm-rests (towards the windows) are extremely uncomfortable and will give your elbow a terrible ache.

Choosing a travel insurance: Don't be one of those people who are least concerned about having a travel insurance. When you are paying thousands or lakhs of rupees for your holiday, make sure you invest a little money in securing a travel insurance and travel peacefully. Moreover, having a travel insurance is a prerequisite to getting a visa in most countries. As much as you have planned for your travel, certain things like flight delays, baggage delays, baggage loss, theft, an unforeseen medical emergency or a natural disaster can disrupt your travel plans. On two of my international travels, I chose Reliance travel insurance. Why? Because everything is online, kinda self-service, super quick, user friendly and very affordable. You can also extend your insurance. (But this requires you to fill a form and visit the nearest branch.)

Make sure that the insurance covers the country/countries you are visiting.
While selecting your travel insurance dates, make sure you enter your departure date and arrival date clearly. For e.g. my Norway trip was from June 23rd 2017 to July 16th 2017 - i.e.; I was departing on June 23rd and arriving back in India on July 16th. However, I made a mistake of entering my travel end date as the July 14th (the day I would leave Norway). During my visa application submission at VFS Global, the executive asked me to change the dates to include my arrival date as well. So I had to do a bit of running around, calling the helpline and then learning that I had to fill a form and submit in-person which would then take 24 to 48 hours to get updated! So what did I do? I just cancelled the insurance, got a full refund, created a new policy with the correct dates, took a print out and then submitted the application! Of course I had to pay 100 bucks to use the internet service at VFS! So don't make the same mistake I did and panic! lol. The ease at which I could create everything online, and the quickness at which it was accomplished, is why recommend Reliance.

Buying your forex: I guess your first instinct would be to check the rates by running a Google search with the keywords "INR to ___", correct? This would give you an idea as to where the currency exchange rates stand. I wouldn't encourage you to use your existing credit or debit cards because a huge exchange fee is levied by banks. So your next step is to buy a pre-paid travel card. These act like credit cards and nowadays all of these travel cards come with a built-in chip for added security. Make sure you add more currency on to your card and carry less cash. I would suggest to carry about 500 bucks worth international currency just in case of emergencies. I usually go with Doorstepforex.com again for the ease at which everything is done. As the name suggests, they come to your door, home or office, and deliver the currency. They partner with Weizmann Forex to deliver the forex. You will have to submit a copy of your travel tickets, Visa copy, KYC, Passport copy, and Aadhaar card copy. You can scan all of these documents and submit online. No hassles of running around and wasting paper which is another reason I would suggest them.

If you are a frequent traveller, then buy a multi-currency forex card.

Enable international transactions on your credit card: I know it might sound counter-intuitive to what I have written above about not using your credit card. However, as a back up plan, it is always good to have the ability to do international transactions on your credit card. For first time travellers, call up the customer service and let them know that you would want to enable international transactions on your credit card as you are travelling abroad. Let them know your travel dates too. This is because some banks may block your card when they see international transactions for the first time and you have not pre-wired them about it. This is done as a precautionary measure to safeguard your card.

Electronics: Make sure you check the input and output voltage of the country you are travelling to. This super handy website called whatplug.info gives you all the details about what kind of adapters, plugs and voltages are across the world. It will be a good idea to carry a spikebuster in case you have a lot of electronic items to charge.

Buying a local sim: Always research about the cost of a local sim card with a basic data plan versus the cost of enabling your international roaming with data. Chances are that buying a local sim card will work out cheaper for you. For my Norway holiday, I bought a Telia sim card. However, it is not the most user friendly site as all their content online is in Norwegian. I used Google Translate to translate their SMS.

Miscellaneous Tips

Google Trips: Download the Google Trip application to organize your entire itinerary. It automatically pulls all your reservations - flights, hotel bookings, activities all into one place and you don't have to open your email and struggle to find them. In addition to this, you can use Google Trips to plan your travel in just minutes. Just enter the city you wish to travel, the approximate travel dates, and Google will show you a host of activities neatly categorized into various headings like "Top spots, "For you", "Local favourite", "Indoors", "Outdoors" and so on.

Picture courtesy: Google Trips

Google Maps: To get the ultimate travel experience, download an offline area of the map ahead of time. This can help you save on huge data or roaming charges. Just make sure you download the map area of your interest when there is internet connection.

I hope you found some of these travel tips handy! So where and when are you travelling? I would love to read about it in the comments below.

This blog post will be updated on a regular basis.

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My Reviews of a Few Indian Restaurants in Norway

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 05:23:00 +0000

Food plays a very important role in making your travel memorable. With that said, I am not one of those folks who indulges in local food wherever I go. Why? Because I am a (pure) vegetarian and I am freaked out about food containing some form of meat or a sauce or even egg. So I stick to visiting Indian restaurants which is a tried and tested option. During my solo trip to Norway, I mainly survived on my MTR ready-to-eat food, cup noodles, and Saffal Oats. But there were times when I just got so fed up eating the dried-up tasteless MTR Pulao (not recommended by the way), that I would want to go eat out. Fortunately during my whole travel, food was not a concern. I got to eat at some great vegetarian restaurants and here are my short reviews of these places.

Restaurant Maharaja, Bergen

This was the first restaurant I ate at during my trip. The staff were courteous. Very tasty food in large amount is served. Oh the joy of having curd or some form of curds for us South Indians is un-explainable! hahaha. The roti was very soft and well made. Visit this place if you're a tourist and crave vegetarian Indian food! :)

Address: Rosenkrantzgaten 5, 5003 Bergen, Norway
Website: http://www.maharajas.no

Taste of India Restaurant, Trondheim

After cycling for a couple of hours in Trondheim, I visited this place. I had shortlisted this place to have my dinner. I really loved the whole ambiance of the place. Seeing an Indian flag in another country suddenly makes one feel very proud! I had that feeling when I saw our flag. It had started to drizzle outside so I decided to takeaway. The menu had a good variety of vegetarian options! I took away Veg Biryani, Raita, and a Naan. Food was very tasty.
Address: Brattørgata 5, 7010 Trondheim, Norway
Website: http://tasteofindia-trondheim.no/

Indisk Taj Tandoori, Bodø

I had arrived in Bodø via a beautiful picturesque train journey from Trondheim. I was pretty hungry and was craving for some Indian spicy food and I can't believe I found an Indian restaurant in Bodø! 😍 The owner was courteous and welcoming and even helped me out with some local taxi info. I ordered veg biryani with some curry and I got some free raita to go with it! The curry was spicy, the biryani was ok... but who can complain when It's 10°c and drizzling outside and you get vegetarian food! It kinda felt like home! I met a Mangalore girl who was working part-time at that restaurant and we were exchanging stories about eating MTR food! As I had taken only Besi Bele Bath, Veg Pulao, she actually told me she has some MTR Vangi Bath at home and she offered to give it to me! So sweet!

Address: Sjøgata 44, 8006 Bodø, Norway

Restaurant New Delhi, Oslo

The the last leg of my solo travel, I visited Oslo for a couple of hours. I so badly wanted to eat Indian veg food and was so glad to have found this place. It was cozy and not crowded. Old hindi instrumental music was playing in the background and I couldn't help but hum along! The ambiance was good. The food was hot and tasty and in good quantity for a person! There was a clean restroom. Out door seating is available.

Address: 10, Øvre Slottsgate, 0157 Oslo, Norway
Website: http://www.newdelhi.no/

In addition to these Indian restaurants, I had some vegetarian food at these restaurants.

Ulriken643, Bergen

I was sightseeing in Bergen and visited the Ulriken mountain. After taking the cable car up there and bit of sightseeing and clicking photos, I dint have much to do here. So I ended up visiting this restaurant. There weren't a lot of vegetarian options here. The only thing I could see was a salad. It was hardly filling! But the view is good here. It's nice to sit out and eat if it is not too windy, else you would want to sit in and enjoy the cozy warmth. There are clean restrooms here.
Address: Haukelandsbakken 40, 5009 Bergen, Norway
Website: ulriken643.no

Fjellstua, Tromsø

If you really want to enjoy some good food with a view, then this place is a must visit! I was so glad that this place had a vegetarian option! I had the vegetarian wok flat noodles and a cup of hot chocolate! It was absolutely yummy with so many veggies! I got a seat outside to sit and enjoyed my meal with some amazing backdrop! Then I went hiking up to the summit, På Toppen, came back and packed the vegetarian wok to go! (They do not have takeaways. I happen to have a box with me so they happily obliged). Very friendly staff!

Video Recap of My Solo Trip to Norway

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 16:04:00 +0000

I took a stab at compiling all my short video clips and converted it into a recap of my solo trip to Norway. From airplane to train and bus journeys, gorgeous snow capped mountains to green forests, cycling in Trondheim and Leknes to having lunch by Aurlandsfjord, and walking Kamosh (golden retriever) in Tromso, all of it has been recapped here!
Check it out.

How I Planned My First Solo Trip to Norway

noreply@blogger.com (v2click) — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 09:40:00 +0000

Aurlandsfjord, Norway

I am a complete nature buff. I love to be around greenery, forest, and snow capped mountains and I am the happiest that time! I have hiked on various parts our beautiful Himalayas with Indiahikes (Roopkund 2009, Rupin Pass 2010, Hampta Pass 2010, Chadar Trek 2013 and Kedarkantha Trek 2013). I had been wanting to visit Norway for a very long time, I guess since 2010. I would do a Google Image search for Norway and would just browse those gorgeous Fjords, mountains and greenery, and sigh thinking to myself, "How I wish i could visit this place". I had asked many friends if they would join me for a trip and they would all say, "Yes, plan for it", but nothing ever materialized. I was always dead serious but it was hard to find company of like minded folks and more over I was always dependent on company for travel. I had heard about a couple of women only travel groups but had never seriously considered travelling with them. Fast forward to April 2016, I took my first all-girls trip with Women on Wanderlust to Bhutan. I absolutely loved it! In Feb 2017, I took my second trip with them - I traveled to Singapore!

But Norway was always on my mind. It was like withdrawal symptoms after Singapore. I wanted to travel so much that between Feb and April of 2017, I drowned myself watching so many Netflix travel documentaries (one of my triggers for travel). And Netflix had so many documentaries on Norway! My God, that did it! I made up my mind about visiting Norway - with or without company! :) Towards the end of April, I had decided that I was going solo and was super excited about it! (My parents were a little concerned which is understandable... but I think I convinced them that I would be ok! Well, they had no choice. :)

First were the travel dates. I am that kind of person who can't plan travel too much into the future. E.g. I can't plan 6 months ahead! Seriously... it's like I lose interest. I am more of a live-in-the-moment, instant-plan kind of person. Of course, this is also depended on my work. I can easily see what projects I have, when I will be completing them, and when it would be a good to take some time off without my work getting affected. I also needed to keep in mind the visa processing time :( ... one the main agonies for any Indian travel enthusiast. Gosh the amount of paper work that will just suck the joy out of you. So I decided June/July would be a good time. I also knew how many days I ~~could afford~~ wanted to take off which was about 16 days! I checked out the air ticket prices and saw which were the best start and end dates where I could get the best deal! Tickets booked!

Next was research. I had to decide which all places I wanted to see and what activities I waned to do in Norway. I browsed a lot of websites. Some of it is listed below.

https://www.visitnorway.com - Official website
https://www.norwaynutshell.com - For travel plan and activities
https://www.fjordtours.com - For travel plan and activities
https://www.taxikalkulator.no - Taxi service and to know the cost
https://www.skyss.no/en - Bus stops in Bergen as this is not integrated in Google Maps yet :(
https://www.wideroe.no/en - To book local flights.
https://www.rome2rio.com - plan how to get from one location to the other and the best mode of transport
https://www.nsb.no/en/frontpage - to book train tickets

It's a good idea to start your planning with the official website in case you are not sure where to begin. I then started saving my locations on Google Maps.

My cousin's friend had been on a road trip in 2016 and he helped me in planning for a few locations! This did not mean that I got to visit all the locations I had marked! You see, I spent hours together on pinning down one place. Getting from one place to the other, the best mode of transport, accommodation, and cost all went into consideration when selecting a place. The sad part is I don't know how to drive so I am heavily dependent on public transport! :( I missed out on the Geiranger belt... I know that is one of the most beautiful locations, but by the time I had got my plan in place, I was so exhausted. I would start my planning and research around 10 PM every night and it would go on till about 3 - 3:30 AM! As it was my first time travelling alone, I was not sure about staying at hostels, so I booked most of my stays via Airbnb. It was only in Flåm after I did not get any affordable places that I booked a hostel and later realized that it was super safe and one of the best ways to meet other travelers! Well... lesson learnt...next time! :)

And here is my map!

Couple of highlights from my trip:

Pulpit Rock and Kayaking in Flam: I did the Pulpit Rock cruise and hike. But I did not get those gorgeous views as seen on Google Images :( It was raining that day and was very cloudy. But having come that far, I dint want to miss out. So I did the hike nevertheless. I also met a great travel mate and we hiked together! She was from Australia and was travelling solo too! :) In Flåm I visited as well as kayaked on the beautiful Aurlandsfjord and saw some breathtaking scenery.

Trondheim to Bodø Train Journey: I got to cross the Arctic Circle baby! After watching one of the Netflix documentaries, (Slow TV: Northern Railway, Norway's northernmost railway line), it was a must-do thing on my visit to Norway! So I did it! :) Thank God for this show that I knew exactly where and what to look for while crossing the Arctic circle! I would highly recommend this train journey.

Discovering the joy of riding a bike in Trondheim, Leknes, and Tromsø.

Pet of Norway! Three out of my five Airbnb stays had pets!!! LOL. I am a huge animal lover and this made my stay even more memorable! The icing on the cake was meeting Kamosh, an adorable golden retriever in my Tromsø Airbnb stay! As soon as I opened the door, he was there to greet me with a footwear! :)

FOOOOOD!!! I am a strict vegetarian (or like how we Indian call it - pure vegetarian... to indicate no egg as well!). Fortunately in India we have a brand called MTR that makes ready to eat veg food. Just add hot water or microwave it for 2 minutes! So I survived on this plus a few great Indian restaurants where I got to eat some authentic Indian food! I made sure to review all these places on Google Maps and some of my photos from these restaurants have top top views... one ever crossing 80,000!

I cannot express in words how much I have begun to love Google Maps! It was during my Norway trip that I joined Google Local Guides. I started reviewing restaurants from a solo female traveler's perspective as well as options for vegetarian food! I can't believe the ease at which I could search and find Indian restaurants and confidently navigate using the local bus and train. I never felt lost!

I also used the Google Trips app to stay organized. I just loved how the app pulled all my travel details from my gmail and organized it. It even listed all my saved places which was so cool. So I had my itinerary all in one place and did not struggle looking for bookings in my Gmail. The best part was that I had downloaded all the maps for each of the locations (offline maps) so that even when internet connectivity was poor, I dint have to worry about finding my way.

Ever since I am back, one of my favourite pass times is open Google Maps and make lists of places that are on my bucket list! I found out that there are about 55+ visa free countries for Indian, i.e.; you can get a visa on arrival! So I made a list (in progress) of those in Google Maps! lol Well, I just can't wait to travel again!

Have you traveled alone? How did you go about planning for it? What apps do you use for your travel? I'd love read about your experiences.