They Sold Their House And Set Out On A Trip Around The World On A Whim, Only To Become India's Leading Travel Bloggers

For Sandeepa and Chetan, the journey is the destination.

"Go for it" vs “What’s wrong with you?”

Chetan was a animator-turned-ad guy, before he gave it all to travel the world with Sandeepa.  

Today, this incredibly bold (and slightly stupid) whim has made the couple two of India's foremost travel bloggers. In a recent interview with the Ithaka blog, the couple spoke at length about their love for the road.

  

"Reactions from family and friends initially ranged from 'This is amazing! Go for it!' to 'What’s wrong with you? It’s time for you to have kids, not travel!'", says the couple. 

What led them to travel?

They'd always wanted to travel - this much was clear. Since their jobs couldn't afford keeping them on sabbatical for a year, they needed to quit.

"It was very clear right from the start that if we had to do this, quitting jobs and selling the house were unavoidable choices."

That sounds crazy to the average victim of the mid-life, but support came from the same people who'd criticized them.

"But once they saw how serious we were about this and how bad we wanted it, everyone became very supportive - right from suggestions and guidance to emotional and mental support.

They have been the backbone of our journey."

Dreams may fuel your footsteps, but world trips cost money

"The only way for us to generate funds for such an ambitious trip was to sell the house.

The joys and perils of travel

Sometimes, it was funny. 

Like the time they went to Bolivia, didn't know a word of Spanish, and tried to order chicken. "A girl then walked to our table and started asking questions. We had no idea what she was saying! After a while, she started pointing to her legs, breasts and made flapping gestures, asking us if we wanted the legs, breasts or the wings of the chicken. Every time we think of that exchange, we burst out laughing."

Sometimes, it was terrifying

Entering Bolivia from Argentina, the border crossing officer refused to let them in, "...even after we showed him all the documents he demanded. After nearly 4 hours in the freezing early morning cold, we finally entered Bolivia with numb fingers and toes!"

Was it as romantic as it sounds? 

Traveling as a couple means being together all the time! This does present its own challenges.  They once fought in Patagonia after facing the "fatigue of continuous travel" and finding they didn't have enough money to continue their journey.