Live, Love, Wander

would have offered me a chance as wonderful as this?” he says cheerfully.

However, he wishes to come back and explore the remaining states without the constraints of a job demands. “I am sure even if I start a full time job, I will definitely take long sabbaticals and more gap years in the future. I am glad to be alive on this beautiful planet.”

THE LOW-MAINTENANCE SOMNOPHILE

It might sound bizarre at some level, but there are some crazy, enthusiastic travellers out there who will sleep anywhere. They save on accommodation expenditure by sleeping in their cars. All one needs is to be well prepared and find a safe place to park the car. But how does this work exactly?

Twenty three-year-old travel enthusiast Baneet Chhabra shares one of his experiences, “Last August I went on a road trip from Delhi to Maharashtra. Spread over 10 days,

Trust is the key word here. I have discovered on this journey that there are numerous ways to be RAVINDER SINGH, solo traveller

we had multiple destinations to cover. My friend and I slept in the car for six nights. We followed a simple routine. After 9 pm every evening, we would give ourselves an hour to find a suitable place to park the car and turn in. The spot had to be safe, along with a bathroom facility. This could be petrol pumps, dhabas on highways which have footfall all night, or even parking areas of hotels or guest houses.”

Some pre-planning is a must for this. “Keep enough drinking water, a bed sheet, a pillow or neck rest. Sleeping in the car reduced my travel cost by almost 40 per cent per day. However, I don’t prefer this when I’m travelling with my female friends,” says Baneet.

THE BRAVE ADVENTURE-SEEKER

Neha Tiwari, founder of Women Beyond Boundaries, has slept in her car more times than she can recall. A true global citizen, she has travelled extensively in India as well as remote foreign towns. Her latest adventure took her to Siberia’s road stretch between Yakutsk and Magadan which is considered one of the most dangerous roads in the world. She also covered the entire stretch from Delhi to London and back.

The young explorer says, “I mostly travel in my SUV. There is minimum expense on food. A big part of the budget goes in repairing the vehicle and diesel. Apart from that there is no major expense. What I do is overland driving. It is not a road trip, it’s an expedition and it’s pretty intense. However. I wouldn’t advise everyone

I mostly travel in my SUV. There is minimum expense on food. What I do is overland driving. It is not a road trip, it’s an expedition and it’s pretty intense NEHA TIWARI, Founder of Women Beyond Boundaries