I might be raising a few eyes here, but for a while when I was in my job, I used to sit and read travel blogs and drool and dream about the sights and stories I read like a teenage girl would on reading a mush filled romantic novel. Thankfully, the similarity ended at that point because I decided to wake up, smell and have the coffee and go travelling. This is the story of those blogs that made me do it and what I learnt from each one of them
Nomadic Matt
The story
Now it’s a habit of mine to do random stuff on the internet. Playing non-sensical games, solving brain teasing puzzles, wiki-ingabout greek mythology. One day a thought hit me up to google ‘backpacking in europe’ and that’s how I ended on Nomadic Matt. And man, was I hooked on to it or what? His travel guides for each of the countries giving detailed explanation on travel costs, things to see, what to eat were amazing. However I was (and still far from) backpacking in Europe so after a while I turned to his other posts like him quitting his job were nice to read. Because until then, I was the only one among the people I knew, who wanted to quit my job and (along with doing some other things). But later as I came to know, there are thousands. But it all started with Matt.
What I learnt:
If you want to travel, just go ahead and do it! You may or may not have an idea about your future, but once you step on the road, things will fall in place for the better.
Almost Fearless
The story
I don’t remember how exactly I came across Christine, but reading her posts about 30 ways to redesign your life was an enriching experience. For people who want to travel and did not know how to make it possible, this is a definite must. Giving you practical tips to face the real world situations and helping you to plan with regards managing expectations of your family, friends, finances , she guides from where you are to where you want to be. And you’ll be surprised when you hear that she travels with her 2 year old baby. Now who thought that was possible? I also loved her perspective that at time’s we need not do the shit that people would not mind even if we did
What I learnt
It is possible to travel long term, as a way of life. And you need not give up on your family or friends to do. In fact take them along with you so that you enjoy and learn as a family equally.
Adventurous Kate
The story
I actually came across Kate through Christine’s post above. And as much as I appreciated the Christine’s perspective, I enjoyed Kate’s hilarious description of a sex show in Bangkok. Kate’s stories , true to her blog name, bring along a series of adventures and in case none exist she creates a few out of the air like eating a almost dozen chilli peppers nonstop. And Kate’s humorous style of depicting her experiences will keep you laughing as you read along
What I learnt:
Having a sense of adventure to your travels is a must. It helps you go break your shackles and grow as a as an individual
A Little Adrift
The Story
Shannon at A Little Adrift is another solo female traveler-blogger. The best thing that can be said about stories by Shannon is that they represent a slice of life. Read her post on Celebrating Holi in India. And being an Indian I could totally understand her annoyance of Indian’s wanting to take a picture of her. The reason I admire her is that she makes attempts to making this world a better place by volunteering her skills, as well as being environmentally conscious. She is a vegetarian which makes her travels challenging from a food perspective at times. But that will always give her new stories.
What I Learnt
It can be best described in Shannon’s own words “There is no one, right way to do anything; find something you’re passionate about and do whatever it takes to make that work for you.”
Thrilling Heroics
The Story
The reason behind this site looking the way it is is Cody. I used Cody’s Thrilling theme for this site. Cody is a digital nomad who is eager to help anybody who wants to think out of the box in terms of lifestyle and having an epic time wherever you are. His guide on setting up a website in less than an hour is the simplest guide you’ll ever come across. Add to the free resources he shares, and you are on a path to having a kick ass website/blog.
What I Learnt
Stop being mediocre. Rise to the occasion, be passionate and strive for excellence in whatever you do. It’s all that’s required to be Awesome!!!!
Finally
At this stage where I am, I am not sure what I want to do except travel the country and build a real good blog. Do I want to be a Digital Nomad like these guys. I do not know. Nevertheless, these guys have inspired and motivated me in a way like never before. And I hope to inspire a few people just like these guys inspired me. This post of my ways of saying THANK YOU to all these people. So Matt, Christine, Cody, Shannon, Kate, here’s wishing you a Happy 2012! To more travels, more learning, more friends and living more in every moment of this life.
No related posts.
I am already inspired..
Superb!!!
Thanks Venkat! Always fun to read what people learn or take from our stuff… I’m very glad to have a small hand in helping you get to where you want to be as a traveler or maybe an aspiring digital nomad!
The pleasure is all mine Cody!
fantastic..
Thank you for including me, Venkat! I wish you many, many adventures throughout the world!
I wish you the same Kate!!! Hope to meet you in India!
Thank you for including me here Venkat! Love this roundup of other bloggers I have had the pleasure of meeting in person over the years
The honor is all mine Shannon!
Cheers
Venky