A typical urban couple (From Mumbai) with extraordinary travel dreams. Anirban is employed with an auto major while Richa is an ex-advertising professional turned full-time author with Harper Collins and Black Ink Books. The dream is to visit 5 new countries every year till we’ve seen them all! Making time for our travels whilst juggling full time jobs, we’ve now been to 38 countries so far and our 6-year-old daughter is now an integral part of our adventures.

The goal can’t be successful until and unless you dreamt of it.

1. One of your most memorable road journeys so far and why?

There have been so many incredible road trips over the years. Bangkok to Koh Chang, Istanbul to Agva Merkez, Ottawa to Niagara, Rome to Florence, Berlin to Prague and closer to home Delhi to Bhimtal and Mumbai to Goa just to name a few. Each one incredible and memorable. Our latest road trip was in January this year when we drove across Jordan from Amman to Petra. To us, this one was memorable because of the number of destination options that were available to us if we only took one different turn – we could have ended up in Aqaba, Wadi Rum, Jerash or even Israel! It was magical to have these options available to us, even if we ultimately didn’t exercise them.

View this post on Instagram

What we share is as eternal as the sun. As bright and magical as the moon. As far as the invisible galaxies and as near as the twinkling stars in our fists. We are flares and stardust and comets and rings. Hand in hand with a song on our lips – Travelling Lobsters . . . There are some places you can feel inside of you. As if there was never a first time and you never said goodbye, they were a part of you well before the ‘meet cute’! Goa is one such place for us. It is not just the familiarity of those swaying palm trees, the fishermen loading their boats, the waves lapping at your feet or the mesmerising sunsets, even the seagulls are lulled into silence with the beauty of endless waves crashing on never ending beaches. Time slows down, willing you to forget everything and dig deeper into the sand that sparkles at your feet. Goa isn’t a destination, it’s a way of life. . . . #travel #wanderlust #globetrotters #igtravel #ig_captures #ig_shutterbugs #instatravelgram #instatravellers #instatravelblog #instatravels #instatravelhub #travel_drops_ #travel_captures #travelcommunity #traveller_stories #travelpassion #travelcouplelife #travelworld #travelphotos #travellovers #traveljunkie #travelpassport #worldtraveller #worldtravelscapes #worldtravelguide #worldtravelbook #roamtheworld #beachvibes #vacationgoals #goadiaries

A post shared by Richa and Ban (@travelling_lobsters) on

2. What are the various things you keep in mind, when you decide for a trip?

Our trips are always planned around our daughters’ school holidays, so each destination is decided based on time available to us. The farthest destinations are usually attempted during the long summer holidays, while we try and explore destinations closer home during the smaller breaks. And then like most people, we decide based on ease of travel, stay options, what we want to see and of course budgets!

3. What kind of food/snacks you have during your trip and music on your travel playlist?

Given the fact that we travel with a young child, we are always armed with all sorts of snacks. Right from cereal bars, chocolate, nuts, wheat flakes, fruits and even chikki! But generally, we love eating the local cuisine in a new place, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. We’ve realized that’s one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways of sampling a new culture. Even with music, we try and listen to local sounds on our trips as that just aids the experience for us.

Macau

4. How has your lockdown been?

So, for the past few months, we’ve barely left our apartment. However, we’ve taken to cooking in a big way (something that we rarely did earlier), so that’s a plus for us in these grim times.

5. Your first road trip post COVID 19?

Our most exciting drive in the last few months has been one from our house to the fuel station, all the while adhering to the 2km restriction! But in all seriousness, with things opening slowly, we plan to do road trips on weekends to places around Mumbai. Monsoon drives are something that we have missed sorely so far and hopefully we can get a few in before the rains are done.

6.  Tips for road trip enthusiasts?

This may sound like a cliché, but with a road trip, it’s all about the journey and not about the destination.

Planning in advance but also to be flexible when interesting opportunities or ideas for new destinations present themselves while you’re on the road.

We also try to keep an open mind to new cultures, foods and all sorts of experiences without being critical.

To sum up, have a loose plan but go with the flow and make sure you enjoy every bit of the journey, even the parts that put you off your comfort zone – those tend to be the most memorable and rewarding experiences!

Comments

comments