On one of my least busy days, I took out time to write down my feelings pervading since last few days after my arrival to Kashmir. Is solo travelling good or bad? Should it be frequented? Is it safe? What do people think of you as you travel to remote areas without much fuzz? Is it worth it?

As soon as I collected my baggage at the luggage belt, I stood by the side of one of the queues looking for my vaccination certificate at Srinagar airport. One of the personnel deployed at the airport asked me if I had my vaccination certificate and I showed it to him. After checking it, he enquired if I was travelling alone or with somebody, the places of my visit and so on. To which I explained about my solo travel and “not-so-planned” trip that I was undertaking.

He was much surprised and enquired further why did I come alone or if there was nobody at home to accompany me. I was not so surprised as I had anticipated that people would not take it casually about the girl travelling solo in Kashmir. After he was convinced, he suggested a few places that I could visit during the trip. He fastened my vaccination checking process after verification and I did not have to stand the long queue there.

I came out of the airport and a driver who came for pickup kept my luggage in the backseat of a Chevrolet Tavera. As soon as I hopped in, the same question surrounded me again. Why are you travelling alone? Don’t you have any friends or family? Are you unmarried? Are your family members alive? This again was not a surprise for me, as I have had the habit of being questioned previously.

These were just two instances of my arrival. Imagine how difficult it must have been for me to keep answering every person I interact with for the same questions over and over again.

Of course, I understand the concern of a few people regarding safety and security, but after a time, travelling alone kinda makes you feel like a loner. Loner- not in a negative sense, but you start enjoying your own company and other people might not fit in the chamber of your travel vibes. People often question me- why don’t you make vlogs or post more pictures on your travel page.

For me travelling alone is not about clicking pictures for social media or posting tonnes of videos as I travel or ticking off this this this places in the list. For me, travelling is a meditation. For me, it’s more about not just visiting the place but being in a place, soaking in the atmosphere of it, interacting with zillions of people I meet on this journey, and learning all I lack from them. This is one of the reasons I do not travel to escape distress, but make travel a part of distress and my cluttered thoughts. I never feel that travelling alone provides you a solution to the problems, but it does provide a time to think of what this clutter is about. Understanding the issue first, giving it a break, and then proceeding to the solution.

All of you reading this might have encountered the state of negativity and how you might have wanted to run from everything. The solution approach for many might have been talking to family or friends, for many it would be just distracting yourself with something else and many others even find it convenient to doze it off with a small nap. Every single person has their way. Assuming somebody to be a loner just because they are travelling alone, or questioning their very existence just because a girl or boy cannot travel alone is non-existential.

As I write this blog, I sit in one of the corners of a well-lit room in Movera with the Lidder river flowing by the side of the resort, Zithyar peak visible from the glass window of my room, my feet warmed by the cozy blanket, birds making a fleet in the farmland of Zaffran. I feel like a happy loner and proud solo traveller. I can listen to the sweet chirruping of birds, catch hold of a leafless birch tree with an eagle perched on the top of it and nothing but trees in sight.

So next time you find someone travelling alone, do not question their independence but appreciate them for having the guts in the world for leaping forward.