Saturday, February 29, 2020
Friday, February 28, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
What to (not) wear when traveling
Always… this is for sure the most burning question when going on travels: what should I wear. And unfortunately, there is no one simple answer to that.
We have researched various pages and blogs and found a massive amount of tips. But some of them did not seem too up to date for us women, that are traveling in the year 2020 and forward.
So we put together for you what we would suggest being thought about BEFORE you pack your bags:
- Valuables: well, this is am evergreen. Do not bring jewelry or anything of high value on your travels, unless you need it for work reasons. And if you need to bring them, make sure you don’t wear them like presenting them to others.
- Purses, credit cards, cash: another evergreen: yes, you need money, and yes, you need to bring it. Just make sure you be careful about where you store it like your bag pocket is probably less save then some inside zippers of your jacket in front of your chest. Some people like to divide it also into different places, so if one is gone, you still would stick with some extra money.
- Highly touristy behavior: well, this is not so much about what to wear, but about how you appear and act in public spaces. Yes, you can take pictures. We just suggest you adapt a bit to cultural customs, so if people are mostly quiet, don’t make too much noise. Just try to adapt a bit.
- Talking about cultural customs: this is something we recommend taking a look into before you go on your trips. There are countries like India, where you shouldn’t walk around in hot pants or tank tops. If you choose a country like this, adapt to this habit. Even though there might not be any restrictions but recommendations, this is about your safety, especially as a woman traveling alone. Respect the tradition.
- Religion, politics, and beliefs, that always messed up the world: do not show them on your clothes. It might be seen as an insult, and you don’t want to upset the minds.
Btw – our recommendation for easy packing: Compression bags. Having things separated makes your life so much easier: https://amzn.to/397PeQh
Respecting these basic rules, you probably will not have any trouble with your trips. Enjoy them!
Free your travels, be a Travelita! #travelita #iamatravelita
Talk to us: if you have any experience or suggestion, let us know in the comments below.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Friday, February 21, 2020
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Friday, February 14, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Travelita Interview with Akanksha Pundir
- Okay, Miss (Akanksha) Pundir, what was the specific incident that got you to this interview?
An FB conversation about solo women travelers
2. What has earned you the right to be an authority on this topic?
I’ve thus far traveled to over 40 countries worldwide and the majority of these have been a solo traveler
3. What is your brand, your topic exactly about?
After 20+ years in the corporate sector, both as a full-time employee and a freelance innovation consultant, working with firms such as The Economist Group, NASSCOM, Microsoft and Erehwon Innovation Consulting, I founded Grass On The Hill last year- an immersive travel experiences company with the aim to bring global communities together to create social impact and sustainable tourism.
The aim is to help people discover themselves and the world we live in. We all love to travel and it is also up to us to preserve the beauty of our planet and its beings.
4. Why is it important?
People commonly travel around the world to see places, rivers, and mountains, et al. They fall into an animal-like stupor that gapes at existence, and they think they have seen something. I want to bring that sense of awe to people’s lives again and again and again! Creative geniuses from all fields seemed to know something about travel that made it indispensable to their work, something that boosted their creativity by changing their thinking.
I’m curious about how travel impacts different people from all over the world. I want to bring global communities of cultures, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, physical/mental abilities, countries, etc. closer, more empathetic and compassionate towards each other through my travels.
5. Now that I know what it is, now that I know why it’s important and relevant, how are you implementing this on your travels? I mean like, is there a process, that you follow when traveling?
I absolutely hate the negative, self-centric direction in which the world seems to be moving so steadily towards and with so much focus towards destruction in every way. I deeply dislike the fact racial and cultural divides are getting deeper even whilst the physical divides between countries and people are getting shorter and shorter with technology and development.
Therefore, through all my travels, I try and look and engage largely with the local people, the culture, the lifestyle whether it is via going into a restaurant to cook with the local chef, or travel to far-flung corners of the country away from the hustle and bustle of big towns, staying with people in their homes, or documenting the tales of the old…
Well, to start with, I think they would undergo a transformation like I did, upon discovering that people around the world are infinitely more similar than different- kids playing, women laughing, men swearing, worrying about the safety of their children, the heath of their aging parents…
6. What if people took advantage of your tips and steps you are providing? What will happen, how will their travels change?
With this would come compassion towards our fellow beings, more open about themselves too! And then the feeling of more accountability and responsibility not just towards our own selves but the whole world at large- making it a safer, happier and more peaceful place!
7. Now we would like to get just some general information about you and your travels:
- When did you start traveling? I was born in India to Army parents who would pick up their bags and shift bags and baggage every couple of years. So in a way, started traveling at an extremely young age and my first solo trip came at 18 years of age.
- Do you remember how you felt when you traveled alone for the first time? I recall a huge sense of freedom, of pride and I also remember feeling a bit anxious and scared too!
- How did you, or do you deal with fears? I think by pretending to be confident till I actually started feeling so! I also started talking to locals where I went and suddenly, I didn’t feel alone or lonely at all! Also, keeping my wits about me and knowing a few essential words of the local language also enables me to be safer.
- Is there a place where you have been and you would definitely not recommend it for women on their own and why? I recall that Tallinn, Estonia made me feel very uncomfortable and it was a rather hostile place.
- Do you still have this excitement, when you go for a trip? Always…the butterflies in my stomach, the excitement in my heart…absolutely every time thinking about the adventures ahead!
- What are your top 5 destinations and why? Here are my current top 5 in no order of preference…
- Belgium- for its people, the cycling, the desserts
- Poland- outdoor adventures, the history, the food
- Georgia- the people, the outdoor adventures, the sea, the food, and wines
- Bhutan- the mountains, the people
- South Africa- the animals, the food, the cultural history
- The funniest story that happened to you when traveling? This dates back a few years to my very first solo trip to Ladakh, India. I had just reached and settled in at the local homestay in a little village called Sakti about 4 hours from Ladakh’s capital Leh. I decided to go for a walk. I passed little streams of water flowing down the mountain, a herd of sheep eating grass in the distance, the lovely Himalayan mountain peaks tucked away in the distance till I came across a lovely patch of green grass, a beautiful tree with the stream flowing next to it. I decided to have a lie-in here to read my book. With the gentle mountain sun warming my face, I fell asleep in no time at all. After what felt like a lifetime, I woke up with a start to 20+ little and big faces staring at me. I was taking a nap right in the middle of the village school!!
8. Call to action – what do you want people to do?
People commonly travel around the world to see places, rivers, mountains, et al. They fall into an animal-like stupor that gapes at existence; and they think they have seen something. I want people to have that sense of awe on all their travels! I want people, especially women, to step out of their comfort zones and travel, travel, travel…
I want global communities of cultures, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, physical/mental abilities, countries, etc. to get closer to each other with travel.
Check out Akanksha on her social media:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/akanksha.pundir
LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/akanksha-pundir
Instagram akankshapundir
Twitter @Akapundir
Free your travels, be a Travelita! #travelita #iamatravelita
Monday, February 10, 2020
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Friday, February 7, 2020
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Travel Safety Tools
Traveling to a safe destination may force you to plan things, but probably you are good off if you are new to traveling and do not yet know about the unexpected to happen. Or, very commonly, if you are living in a safe place and have not yet traveled too far, you might not imagine the world to be dangerous at all.
So before you travel, especially on your own, you might consider to do some research – about the general situation of the chosen country and of course, about any possible health risks you will be exposed to.
Generally, before going into the two selected tools we want to present to you today, we would like to give some advice:
- considering health, no matter where you travel to, consult tropical illness websites or doctors and get your information. It is an easy fix to protect yourself from the things that can be foreseen.
- considering general safety, consult embassies, your countries foreign office or their webpage to inform yourself about the political situation of the country you are going to. The choice is yours, but at least, be prepared for what you are going to; and of course, cultural differences, religion, do’s and don’ts.
Today, we would like to present you two tools, that we found to be very practical if traveling alone. One for general safety, one for health.
- The life straw. Besides pharmaceutical products, that help you clean your water (you might need them in some destinations), you can easily use the life straw to clean just water and make drinking water out of it. We have heard about Travelitas using this tool in India to clear tube water into drinking water, we are not sure if we want to recommend this as we personally never tried it before; but we are sure that it works in any region where the water is not that awfully contaminated. Take a look here: http://shorturl.at/ipCHO
- Waterproof bags: these tools are awesome and lifesaving. They work as regular bags, so never mind if you are not using them to their real advantage which is: You can take them to the beach, and the will just protect your stuff from getting sandy, but – and here comes the advantage: take your valuables into the water, so you never have to ask that stranger to take a look on your things meanwhile you take a swim wondering if your stuff will still be there once you come out of the water. http://shorturl.at/qTV13
We hope that gave you some ideas how to protect yourself better in your next trips.
Free your travels, be a Travelita! #travelita #iamatravelita
Monday, February 3, 2020
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Saturday, February 1, 2020
We are taking a break
Covid has hit the world hard, and we feel it is getting more and more difficult to pack a bag and travel. It’s not impossible, but rather t...
