A Decision that changed me to be a solo traveler

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olo traveling is an amazing phase which broadens a way to most of the traveler around the world. To be a Solo traveler, is not only a craze – its an empowerment, encouragement & something inspiration to others. So, whoever is solo traveler around you, they must have some serious story or reason for which they had chosen this. For some people a deep desire for travel, or personal lose or an empty nest conspired them to be a solo traveler . For me it was something different what dragged me to have a taste of this. Today, in this post I will share my experience behind this epoch making decision to have a life like a solo traveler.

It was the mid of December’2016, we guys were trekking through the jungles of Singlila National Park in Lower Himalayan Range, in the district of Darjiling, West Bengal,India. Our trekking was planned in Sandakphu region & we were supposed to trek to Falut from Sandakphu area. But reaching Sandakphu in time was a planned event , so to avoid any delay we hired a car from Manebhanjang. But due to quick arrival in Sandakphu I felt really sick that night. you cant imagine how painful & lengthy was that night. I was breathing heavily & very frequently. Tho whole time I had packed myself in the sleeping bag was a nightmare to me & honestly if you ask me what was going around in my head, was just something about the quick descend to lower altitudes. so basically I was waiting for the next morning.

My next day planned event was rather different than this unusual thing – my team was about to ascend to Falut. They were rather very worried about my health & trying to manage a car from Sandakphu so that it may carry me to a safer low altitude area from where I was supposed to go back to my home or wait till the end of team’s trek. So, it was something about to finish in a while. Believe me, I was really disturbed with these things, because I’m such a crazy person who had managed to get a vacation after so many months, even working in Telecom industry where granting leaves are kind of dare things for managers. So, I was not ready to accept the fact.

After the long night was over, Mr Nima (Our respected Nepalese guide) came to me & asked in broken Hindi how was I feeling then. I somehow was able to steer my neck & with a broken, unhealthy voice replied about my condition. Nima hurried to the Nepali kitchen & brought a pot of ginger soup.  After observing my condition he shared views with my team members that he was fearing about my health condition & this would not be a wise decision to include  me with Falut going team. Even I supported his suggestion. That moment was the most pathetic one, being well aware of my condition. It was like all my dreams were drowning into a gulf of darkness. Even my team had arranged a share car in the meantime.

It was a real examination of patience & ambition. What should I do. Am I supposed to step back to home or continue my journey, it was all about mental strength, taking risks. Because my head was still dizzy & I was not able to walk some few steps.

All of a sudden my house owner (the house where we stayed last night in Sandakphu) called me & introduced me to a Nepali person (whose appearance was similar to a trekking guide). A soft spoken, middle aged Nepali man with stout figure, governing a team of few lads.

House owner: “why you dont join his team?  He was carrying his team downwards. It will be good for you if you walk few kilometers down.”

Me: “Is this true? I dont know If I can walk or not.”

Babu bhai (the trek guide): “Yes ofcourse. It will be nice for you, you will find fresh oxygen after walking few KM to down, you’ll feel better then.”

Me: “Oh then Its fine. It will be exciting for me. As the team is new & still destination & route is unknown to me.”

Babu bhai: “you’re welcome, you can join now, we’re heading towards Srikhola & we need to reach there till this evening, from there you can plan accordingly for your next day’s journey.”

Me (shaking hands with house owner & babu bhai) : “Thank you, thank you so much ! It was something magical about which I was not expecting .”

They smiled & I felt like some fresh oxygen was poured into my vessels. My whole journey was not actually going to be wasted.

My pals were surprised with this frequency of changing plots. They almost implanted this vision that finally I was about to set out for home. But it was not.

The moment did not took long to arrive when I was bidding good bye to my team, it was another shocking incident for me – with whom I was planning my journey were completely unknown to me, even the route, rather I was paying farewell to my beloved team. So the things were like, my team was walking upwards to Falut & I was about to walk downhill. Despite the fact that I had a little cold war with the car owner (with whom I was supposed to leave for my home), I was finally happy to resume my journey.

I was feeling an outbound joy, my inner self was too happy to preach its glory. This was something about which I was longing for so many years – traveling with unknown people, unknown places , not sure about the stay, rather about the journey, nor the route . I knew it was going to be a jackpot for me.

This team owned 05 people who were college lads & they were younger than me. I felt they were quite uneasy by my presence. That was obvious too. Suddenly a stranger had joined their team without a notice, so definitely there was something going on in those minds. I attempted openly to communicate with my ever charming open nature. After some half an hour of walk, they felt easy to chat. Even I felt easy in my health condition. My head was free from stretches, headaches & feet was free to walk. Some discussions we held in between with Babu bhai about my destination.

I was informed that the team would come to a stop in Srikhola. They would have a night stay in Srikhola, as they had train scheduled in next day. So my position was I could stay in Srikhola for 2 nights more till my team’s presence in srikhola (It was the place common with my team’s itinerary) OR I something different.

The trek was over after some 05 days, I managed to walk the whole way towards my team. It was a real journey without any help, guidance – I met with my team. In between I surfed the Paths through the Singlila Forest with fear of getting lost, darkness, wild animals. I met some amazing Nepali families on the way, stayed with them, it was like a home. I ventured their life quests, lifestyles, their foods – every moments I spent there, added new chapters to my life journey. I know this was not the common obvious way people used to travel or walk, but I’m sharing this story with a belief that it could push you to think about the things happening around differently.

You can share if you had ever issued any life changing decision, that blew away your beliefs with something. I’ll be happy to listen that. You can draw your thoughts in the comment section below.

Do you know, you can even contact me to just say a Hello. Contact Me.